(lass J :_c,.o 
Book, \aU& 



♦ 



v 



ROUGH NOTES 



OF A 



JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, 



FROM 



TRINIDAD TO PARA, BRAZIL, 



BY WAY OF THE 



GREAT CATARACTS 



ORINOCO, ATABAPO, AND RIO NEGRO. 



BY 

HENRY ALEXANDER WICKHAM. 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWN ON THE SPOT BY THE 
AUTHOR. 




u 

W. H. J. CARTER, 12, REGENT STREET, S.W. 
1872. 

[All Rights of Translation and Reproduction reserved.] 



''4 



6 



TO 

JAMES DE VISMES DRUMMOND HAY, C.B., 

H.B.M. CONSUL FOR VALPARAISO, 
(LATE OF PARA,) 
THESE ROUGH NOTES ARE DEDICATED, 
IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE MANY KINDNESSES 
BY WHICH 

THE AUTHOR WAS INDEBTED FOR A PLEASANT ENDING 
TO A SOMEWHAT ARDUOUS JOURNEY. 



Santarem, Pard, 1871. 



NOTICE. 



These Eough Notes of American Travel, 
having been arranged and prepared for the Press 
without the personal supervision of the Author, 
may contain some errors, for which he cannot be 
responsible ; but under the circumstances of his 
absence, all possible care has been given to the 
undertaking by those engaged in it. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

ROUGH NOTES of a JOURNEY THROUGH THE 
WILDERNESS, from Trinidad to Para, Brazil, by way 
of the Great Cataracts of the Orinoco, Atabapo, and Rio 
Negro. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Starting. — -Effects of a hurricane. — Night rainbow. — Antigua. 
— St. Lucia. — Grenada. — Port of Spain. — The lancha at 
last. — Mosquitoes. — Cedras Point. — Guarrauno Indians. — 
My crew. — The rushes ...... 1 



CHAPTER II. 

Cutipita. — The main river. — Old Guayana. — Las Tablas. — 
Black rocks. — Coast scenery. — Angostura. — Incidental 
birds. — Winged ants. — Difficulties in the way. — Rogers's 
mishap. — Caribs. — A desperate convict. — My experience 
of landladies. — American emigrants. — Progress up the 
Orinoco. — Birds. — Maripa. — The savannahs. — Aripao. — 
Ventura. — Storms . . . . . . .12 



X 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

PAGE 

Mura raudales. — Piritu raudales. — Chapparo. — Sarapia. — Tapa- 
ritos. — Forest-trees. — The Guangomo. — The Nicare 
stream. — Macaws. — Venezuelan thieves. — A temporal. — 
Spring at Angostura. — A push for the Amazon . .32 



CHAPTER IV. 

Iguana Camp. — Watkins. — My costume. — Beetles. — Incon- 
veniences of the rainy season. — Creole importunity — 
Ramon's shooting. — Purney . — Apure lancha. — Impres- 
sions of the scenery. — Caribee-fish.- — Squalls. — Rogers's 
escape. — Mount Caycara. — Rio Cuchivero. — Travellers' 
fare. — Camping on a rock. — Zancudos again. — Zamora 
vultures. — A sudden squall. — Fever. — My Indian friend 
Cumane. — Mata-mata. — Senor Castro's lancha . . 44 



CHAPTER V. 

Jovito Hill. — Paruro Indiaus. — Scenery. — Guahibos. — Indian 
tongues. — An old mission.— The Cateniapo. — The voice 
of the raudales. — Capuchin monkey. — Senor Castro.— 
Indian sepulchre. — The Atures savannahs. — Different 
tribes of Indians. — River scenery. — The padre of San 
Fernando de Atabapo. — El Governador's mis-rule. — 
Orinoco palms. — Pedro Level. — Search for ciringa . .65 



CHAPTER VI. 

A moonlight start. — Peculiarities of the South American 
forest. — Santa Barbara. — Mount Yapacani. — A snake 
adventure. — Senor Hernandez. — San Fernando. — Senor 
Lanches. — Caricia. — Ciringa trees. — Forest sounds and 
sights in the creek. — Commencing operations. — My forces. 
— Bush-ropes. — Different species of monkeys. — Christmas 



CONTENTS. 



XI 



fare in the woods. — The red mosquitoes. — Merced Gil. — 
Balenton. — Curious rocks. — El rey de las Zamoras. — Mar- 
quiritare Indians. — Native manufactures. — Roja. — Sick- 
ness. — The little pale man of the forest. — Merced Gil's 
hospitality. — A sloth ....... 83 



CHAPTER VII. 

Increase of rain. — A visitor. — No ammunition. — A new kind 
of food. — A ravo pilado. — Forest life. — Semi-starvation. 
— Abandoning my rancho.^ — San Fernando de Atabapo. — 
A change in the government. — Return of illness. — Vege- 
tation on the banks. — The Pimichin. — Senor Level . .107 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Maroa and its vicinity. — Dull lives. — Creole laziness. — 
How things are managed. — Level and his family. — 
Perritos. — Venezuelans. — Senora Delfina. — Indian super- 
stitions. — Native drinks. — Palms. — Lancha building. — 
San Carlos. — Cucay. — Down the raudales. — San Gabriel. 
— Future of Brazil. — Tobacco. — Sitios. — The Branco. — 
A violent temporal. — The highlands of the Branco. — 
Return to civilization. — Hints for emigrants. — The last of 
Level 123 



PART II. 



A JOURNEY among the WOOLWA or SOUMOO INDIANS 
of Central America. 

CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

Impressions of St. Lucia. — Flying fish. — Grey Town. — The 
woods. — The town and its inhabitants. — A Moravian 
schooner. — " Crook Crook." — Monkey Point, Blewfields 
Bluff, and Cassada Cay. — William Henry Clarence. — The 
Moskito Royal Family. — Mr. and Mrs. Liindberg. — The 
Government. — Blewfields Compulsory Christianity. — A 
curious animal. — Birds. . . . . .143 



CHAPTER II. 

The Woolwa river. — Teribio and his companions. — Sugar-cane. 
— Effects of the hurricane. — Plantations. — Supper and 
conversation. — Arrival at Kissalala. — An Indian lodge. — 
My reception. — The Woolwa and their habits. — Their 
kindness. — Every-day life. — Insect pests. — Birds round 
the lodge. — Reflections. — Rain. — Spiders and flies.— Ants. 
— Teribio' s royal guests. — Freshwater and his brother. — 
Grinding corn. — A tragedy. — Indian dogs. — My telescope. 
— The calabash. — A white falcon. — Canoes. — Indian 
ways. — A dory from Blewfields. — Alone at Kissalala. — 
Fishing. — Temple's narrative. — The howler. — A storm. — 
The Mishla feast. — Company costume . . . .154 



CONTENTS. 



Xlll 



CHAPTER III. 

PAGE 

Starting for the Rama branch. — Frogs. — Comparisons of 
scenery. — Precautions in making a fire. — Alligators and 
dogs. — Assan-darkna. — San Bias Indians. — Christmas 
week. — Illness. — Indian good breeding. — A favourite 
nook.— Birds 193 



CHAPTER IV. 

Temple's explanation. — Cholera. — A Woolwa tragedy. — Panic. 
— Flight from Kissalala. — An ocelot. — Teribio's little 
daughter. — Unromantic Indian marriages. — Birds. — A 
settlement. — Woukee. — Difficult pedestrianism. — Woolwa 
honesty. — Temple becomes discontented. — Shag and 
darters. — The barber's pole. — Bird and animal life. — A 
Karkee. — Garra-patas. — An Indian Adonis. — Kaka. — 
Peculiarities of the scenery . . . . . .205 



CHAPTER V, 

Starting for Consuelo. — The Peak of Pena Blanca. — Native 
politeness. — An Englishman at home. — The Chontales 
mines. — Trustful disposition of the Woolwa. — A Spanish 
murder. — Spanish thievery. — Captain Pirn. — Speculations 
concerning the Woolwa . . . . . .224 



CHAPTER VI. 

Return to the coast. — Losing my way. — Personal appearance 
of the Woolwa. — Indian bird-catchers. — An Indian 
mother. — Woukee deserted. — Wild fig-tree. — Indian 
canoe-men. — Curious rocks. — The Kisscadee. — Victim of 
a puma. — Kissalala' s desolation. — Rocks on the Rusewass. 
— Iguana eggs. — Freshwater turtle. — Temple's plantation 236 



XIV 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

PAGE 

Continuation of journey to Blewfields. — Aspect of the country. 
— Aground. — The Mission-house again. — The Blewfields 
scholars. — Mrs. Crawford's thoughtfulness. — Dry weather. 
— Indian antiquities. — A new missionary. — Jaguars. — An 
old lady's umbrella. — Yellow- tails. — Cookra Point. — The 
Half-yearly Congress. — Excitement against the Nicara- 
guan encroachment. — Cassada Cay. — Magdala. — Cookra 
Indians. — Hawl-over. — Christmas observances . . 248 



CHAPTER VIII. 

A prayer-meeting at Hawl-over. — Advice for artistic travellers. 
— The top-knot chick. — Ramon g. — Congregation at the 
Mission-services. — Former luxuriance of the cocoa-nut. — 
Rain storm. — Old Fox. — Birds. — The snook-fish, — A 
warry hunt. — Quash . . . . . . .262 

CHAPTER IX. 

The old Soukier. — Jiggers. — Appearance of the mangrove 
trees. — My Woukee bittern. — Turtle. — The brown pelican. 
— Mr. Lane. — Visit to Rama Cay. — An energetic pastor. 
— The Rama Indians. — Starting for Grey Town. — Fellow- 
passengers. — Temple's brother. — A child's funeral. — Hotel 
expenses. — Aspenwall. — News of Captain Pirn. — Home . 27 5 



Report on the Industrial Classes in the Provinces of Para and 

Amazonas, Brazil, 16th September, 1870 . . . 291 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

CIRINGA TREE (INDIA-RUBBER) — Frontispiece. 



SANTA LUCIA ..... 3 

SUNRISE, ORINOCO ..... 6 

MANRICHE PALM . . . . # 8 

MOONRISE, ORINOCO . . . . .14 

ARIGUA VILLAGE, UPPER CAURA ... 32 

INTERIOR OF AN ARIGUA LODGE, UPPER CAURA . 38 

MY RANCHO DURING THE RUBBER SEASON, CARICIA, 

UPPER CAURA ..... 90 

ORINOCO BELOW THE MOUTH OF THE CONUCONUMO . 102 



OUR FIRST (TEMPORARY) HOUSE, NEAR SANTAREM 138 

SOUMOO OR WOOLWA INDIANS DESCENDING A RAPID 

IN A PITPAN, CENTRAL AMERICA . . .160 

SOUMOO OR WOOLWA INDIAN, BLEWFIELDS RIVER, 

CENTRAL AMERICA . . . . 237 

RITEPOORA, MOSKITO VILLAGE, PEARL CAY LAGOON . 260 

RAMONG, A WOOLWA .... 264 

LEAF AND FRUIT OF THE CIRINGA TREE (INDIA-RUBBER), 

SIZE OF LIFE ..... 295 

NEAR SANTAREM, PARA, BRAZIL . . . 298 



EOUGH NOTES 

OF A 

JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, 

FROM TRINIDAD TO PARA, BRAZIL. 



PART I. 



ROUGH NOTES of a JOURNEY through the 
WILDERNESS, from Trinidad to Para, 
Brazil, by way of the great Cataracts of the 
Orinoco, Atabapo, and Rio Negro* 



CHAPTER I. 

New Year's Eve, 1869, we lay at St. Thomas's 
and witnessed a curious effect in the sky : a rainbow r 
at night, caused by the moon-rays falling on a rain- 
cloud. On New Year's morning we steamed from 
the harbour, the shore of which and the neighbour- 
ing cays were still strewn with the hulks, wrecks, 
and other debris of the previous year's hurricane and 
earthquake, although now all seemed bathed in an 
atmosphere of undisturbed tranquillity. The Royal 
West India Mail ships in these latitudes are manned 
by blacks ; it appeared quite natural to be again on 
the deck of the old " Tamar," watching the dusky 
forms of the crew as they lounged or romped about 
the forecastle, like so many monkeys. 

B 



2 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



Leaving the island of Santa Cruz on our star- 
board quarter, we sped along against a head wind. 
Some time after I had turned in, I was aroused by the 
report of the signal-gun, fired right over the port of 
my cabin : jumping into my slippers, I found we 
had arrived off St. Kitt's. A good many vessels lay 
in the roadstead ; and what appeared to be a town, 
slept on the lowland betwixt the water and the 
mountainous backbone of the island, over which 
rolled heavy manes of moon-lit cloud. The night was 
marked by a very beautiful, but here, not uncommon 
phenomenon; the top of each fleecy cloud was tinged 
with prismatic colours as it passed the disc of the 
moon. Next morning the sea-girt rock called 
Rodonda met our view ; then Montserrat ; and we 
coasted Antigua until we came to in the lovely cove- 
like entrance to the English harbour, with its crys- 
talline water ; there we landed mails. In the after- 
noon, looming suddenly through a mist of luke-warm 
rain, we saw the forest-covered coast of Guadaloupe, 
and I managed, as usual, to take a few rough sketches 
at any point of interest. The scenery was truly 
magnificent. Leaving at midnight, we proceeded to 
land mails at the Island of Dominica, from whence 
the gentle land-breeze wafted us that delightful 
fragrance peculiar to the tropical forests. 

January 3rd. — Martinique by daybreak. We 
came to St. Lucia before noon, entering the beautiful 
harbour to remain the greater part of the day. 
When we were about to get under weigh, three 
masts, with long black spars, were visible, rounding 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, 



3 



the promontory, and a large war-snip swept majes- 
tically across the narrow outlet : she proved to be 
the " Royal Alfred," bearing the pennant of the 
Admiral of the West India station. We were, of 
course, boarded for mails, papers, &c. What a 
difference there is in the appearance of the boat's 
crew from an English man-of-war, on a foreign 
station, to the sailors belonging to any other power! 

, St. Lucia was my first vision of the tropics on 
my way to Central America. I was then enchanted ; 
and though I have seen so much since the com- 
mencement of my travels, this isle still seems, above 
all places, to be transcendent in beauty ; the very 
rocks are robed in the deepest green. Strangely 
enough, we rounded the S.AV. end again (where 
stand the giant Pitons), at sunset, the same hour as 
on my introductory visit : these peaks rise abruptly 
from the sea to a height of 4,000 feet. 

On the 4th we lay all day at Grenada, taking in 
coal, which gave any of the passengers so inclined a 
good opportunity for a run ashore. The quaint, 
clean little town is very ancient and picturesque ; 
it is well situated in a fine bay, and, for the most 
part, on a small peninsula therein. In the morning 
we crossed the roughly -paved streets, ascending the 
side of the hill by a winding, but evenly cut, 
military road. The view from an old fort at the 
summit was worth the journey. In the afternoon 
we skirted the bay through thickets of mimosa and 
mangoe, interspersed with coco and other palms. 
I managed to have 3, swim ; but coming unexpect- 



4 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, 



edly upon a shallow covered with sea-hedgehogs, I 
wounded my knee rather painfully. 

We had on board a recruiter of the 4th West 
India Regiment, a very fine specimen of a West 
Indian soldier; his uniform excellently suited the 
exigencies of the climate, resembling that of the 
French Turcos. He might have passed for one of 
that dashing fraternity in Paris. 

On reaching Trinidad I determined to deposit 
my baggage at the Custom-House by the water side, 
in order to be ready at the next opportunity for 
pushing on to the main. 

I found that the steamer did not set out for 
Ciudad Bolivar before the 28th; and therefore, 
not desiring to remain stationary for such a length 
of time, I looked anxiously for a lancha or canoe, 
or anything in the shipping line that would answer 
my purpose, bound up the Orinoco. 

9th. — I took Rogers (a young Englishman who 
accompanied me) away behind the town across 
the country, to try his powers of locomotion and 
hardihood, knowing that a somewhat fatiguing 
walk lay before us. We gained the summit of a hill 
towards the north, where a most beautiful view of 
the flat coast and the northern mountains was 
spread beneath us. I think that any companion 
was duly impressed that travels such as we had 
entered upon would be no light pastime for either 
of us. 

Mr. Budge, of Port of Spain, kindly placed his 
cool little cottage at my disposal. I was glad 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 5 - 

of this excuse to " clear out" of the Royal 
Hotel, as I found hotel life here, of necessity, 
expensive. 

The town of Port of Spain, although not pre- 
possessing from the water, is well laid out. The 
large number of East Indian coolies employed on 
the neighbouring cacao and sugar estates, give the 
streets something of an Eastern character : the town 
population is 25,000 ; and many more white faces 
are seen than in the other islands we touched at on 
our way. 

Besides the conventional West Indian negro 
and the coolies, a sprinkling of Chinese is observ- 
able amongst the inhabitants ; and I believe that 
the whole island population is some 90,000. I 
walked to St. Joseph's, the site of the old Spanish 
capital San Jose dc Oruria ; and, in company with 
Mr. Budge, visited the valley of Diego Martin. 

On the 11th my patience was rewarded ; a small 
vessel turned up bound for the required destination; 
so I at once engaged with its captain to convey 
Rogers and myself as far as Barrancas, and thence 
to Las Tablas, near the mouth of the Caroni 
tributary. We hoped to arrive in eight days. 

Next day we left Port of Spain, and El Capitan 
ran the little craft up a creek to take in provisions. 
We encamped in a mangrove swamp, no very 
delectable situation ; for no sooner had the sun dis- 
appeared, than we were beset by innumerable 
mosquitos and sand-flies. The latter insects, though 
of the minutest proportions, cause much irritation of 



6 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



the skin ; and aided in their attacks by some full- 
grown trumpeting mosquitos, they rendered night 
hideous, and sleep quite out of the question. How- 
ever, every disagreeable must come to an end, and 
so did ours at last : we struggled with difficulty out 
of the black mud, and, provisions on board, floated 
beyond the Chowan, as the detestable place is 
called. 

Along the Trinidad coast, past the neighbour- 
hood of the famous pitch-lake, the woods began to 
assume the primeval type. Cedras Point was rounded 
in the afternoon : the verdant green with which it 
is draped forms a peculiarly striking contrast to its 
own red colouring. 

The complexion of the mighty Orinoco here 
tinges the water with yellow. 

We passed the night at Cedras, swinging at 
anchor near the sandy shore. 

13th.— We left behind us some surf- worn sand- 
stone rocks, covered with pelicans, and stood 
across the gulf, beyond the long reef designated 
" The Soldier"; coming upon the well- defined line 
where the greener water of the sea is borne back 
by the yellow tide of the Orinoco. There was 
little breeze, and so swelteringly hot in our open 
boat, it was determined to gain the delta of the 
Orinoco by the Pedernales channel. The sand- 
spits round the mouth were bright with scarlet ibis, 
egrets, &c. There are a few clearings just inside, 
and here we saw the Warraw or Guarrauno Indians 
(the tribe indigenous to these delta lands), in their 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



7 



"curiaras," or canoes. As we advanced, channels 
opened out on every side, cutting the deep green 
mangrove woods into islands of various dimensions. 
It was evening, and as the sun dipped, macaws in 
pairs, and parrots in flocks, sociably chattering, 
wended their way to favourite roosts. 

At dark the tide turned, and ran out so strongly, 
that we were obliged to make fast to the bushes, 
and wait for the flow. 

14th. — Now and then we encountered a curiara; 
but as soon as our boat was perceived by its 
Guarrauno freight, they made off, paddling as for 
dear life, vanishing up some friendly creek, amidst 
the dense thickets. This race has no doubt been 
badly treated by the Spaniards; kidnapped, and 
carried to work far away, not knowing whither, by 
armed forces. They are believed to be very numerous, 
but, owing to bad treatment, are very shy and diffi- 
cult to approach. As well as the delta lands of the 
Orinoco, they inhabit the low coast between this 
and the Pomeroon, towards the Arrawaks of the 
Demerara; living generally far back in the swamps, 
where they lift simple palm-thatched lodges on high 
posts above the ooze. For their sustenance, they 
rely largely on a substance resembling sago, 
together with fish, which is abundant, and wild 
hog. In person they are short, and rather squat, 
probably from being so much in their canoes. In 
colour, they are darker than other American Indians 
I have seen, with the exception of the Moskitos 
of Central America. I was fortunate in obtaining 



8 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

a good subject for a sketch; the dusky individual 
showed great taciturnity (or indifference) during 
the time I kept hirn standing. These people occa- 
sionally make a trip in their curiaras to the neigh- 
bouring island of Trinidad, where they dispose of 
hammocks, tame birds, and other articles of Indian 
traffic. They also go to the British settlements on 
the Gruayana coast, but for the most part keep 
within the labyrinth of creeks and channels con- 
necting the main estuaries of the Orinoco, forming 
a watery maze, the secret of which they alone are 
in possession of. They are said also to possess the 
knowledge of an ointment that is obnoxious to 
mosquitos, which cease to torment them after they 
have anointed their bodies with the valuable charm. 
I think there really must be some ground for the 
idea, for I have seen the Indian fires shining 
through the night in swampy localities, where we, 
in an unprotected state, found it impossible to obtain 
the least respite from the pests. 

As we advanced, the palm called the Manriche 
became more and more abundant. The Guarrauno 
make from it a farinaceous substance, which forms 
one of their staple supports. 

15th. — Last evening, and in the morning, we 
were favoured with regular Orinoco squalls of wind 
and rain ; later in the day, during our halt, I got 
out a strong line and some large hooks ; we soon 
took five fine fish, which proved excellent eating — 
they were something like cat-fish. Presently we 
began to lose the mangrove, and to see less of the 



to fobce< paye/ 8 




A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 9 



slender, graceful manac palm. In Brazil it is called 
the Assai, and it is there much esteemed for the 
refreshing beverage made from its fruit. 

The mosquitos of the delta are truly terrible ; 
they rise in clouds at night from the banks and the 
floating aquatic plants to prosecute their vengeance 
upon intruding man. Islands of these plants float 
up and down with the ebb and flow of the tide, 
filled with swarms of these plagues. The banks 
became higher and more habitable in aspect ; but 
in the afternoon the wind so freshened against us, 
that we made fast to a cometure tree. As a lad 
named Pedro was about to perform this office, he 
nearly ran his head against a large mapanare snake, 
which was asleep on a bough. The men called out 
to me to shoot " very bad snake: he was accord- 
ingly riddled with a charge of No. 8 shot I 
happened to have in readiness for small birds. 
This snake is in the habit of lying thus coiled on a 
thick branch or bush over the water. I shot many 
in that way afterwards, and once or twice narrowly 
escaped brushing them down into the canoe in our 
passage underneath. Our little craft, about the size 
of a Margate lugger, was well manned ; the crew 
were all excellent fellows in their way, although 
confirmed smugglers ; indeed, the boat was after- 
wards confiscated by the authorities at Angostura. 
Benning, the master, a Trinidad Creole, had been 
to England, and had seen the Crystal Palace, 
Thames Tunnel, and other objects of note ; Paul, a 
brown man from Guadaloupe, chiefly steered ; 



10 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



Andreas, who cooked, was a Trinidad Creole, — he 
had traversed the Spanish main ever since he was 
twelve years old, and had gone over that extra- 
ordinary bifurcation of the waters of the Orinoco 
with the Amazon, by means of the Cassiquiare, 
which runs from the upper Orinoco into the Rio 
Negro, or Gruariana ; lastly, Pedro, a mestizo 
(half-Indian), from the island of Margarita, off the 
north coast. The mosquitos continued to be most 
distressingly numerous . 

16th. — The banks of the channel reminded me 
of the lower part of Blewfields, in Central America, 
but water-birds and iguana were scarce here, 
perhaps owing to the deep water up to the banks. 
There was, however, an abundance of game, but 
we had not leisure to seek it on shore with gun and 
machete. A large bird, called "Arruk," is very 
common : they are usually seen standing on the top 
of a thick bushy tree, their heads and necks ducking 
up and down, whilst they utter a sound like the 
heavy creak of an old-fashioned jmnrp. We are apt 
to think that the natives of South America (not 
aboriginal) are utterly ignorant : the men in the 
little craft could all read and write. I always got 
Pedro, the mestizo lad, to write me the native 
names of the fish and trees. One hardly expects to 
find such a }}itch of education in fellows with shirts 
like the rags remaining to us as relics of the 
Waterloo standards ! Our midday halt was chosen 
under the shadow of a bank somewhat more ele- 
vated than is usual in these low lands. As soon as 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



11 



my companions had partaken of their light meal, 
they severally disjoosed themselves for a snooze; 
not feeling similarly inclined, my eyes wandered 
along the bank, enjoying, half unconsciously, the 
grace of the motion of the wild canes, that waved 
gently in the immense breadth of the tropical sun- 
light. Soothed at last into drowsiness by the 
rippling sea-breeze, the soft continuous whisper of 
the canes seemed to lose identity with its cause, 
and become human. I heard words fluttering on 
the air, and names were murmured belonging to 
dear ones far away ; but anon the fairy spell was 
broken, for the breeze grew fresh, and the swaying 
of the canes became boisterous, as the men arose 
from their siesta to shake out the old sail again, and 
we once more sped on our way. 



12 



CHAPTER II. 

January 17th. — This morning we readied the 
first of the mongrel Spanish settlements, indicated 
at a distance by a few young coco trees, bread- 
fruit, and plantains. At this plantation, which 
belongs to an old coloured Trinidad man, we were 
hospitably entertained. Amongst the good cheer 
was an excellent fish, called barba de tigre. Here 
plantains are cultivated abundantly. We remained 
during the day at this place, which is called Cuti- 
pita, where we found many Spaniards in hiding, to 
escape from military service in the revolutionary 
disturbances on the savannahs of Venezuela to the 
north. The old Trinidad man had numerous 
Indians of the Gruarrauno race in his employ ; they 
were crushing his sugar-cane to make papalon, the 
moulded sugar of Venezuela, which has a ready sale 
at Ciudad Bolivar. The old fellow also had some 
uncoloured rum of very fine flavour, and he seemed 
to think a great deal of it. 

I took a portrait sketch of one of the Indians. 

19th. — We continued our course. There were 
now sand-spits at each bend. We passed into the 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, 13 

Macarco branch. The bank was well settled for 
this part of the country. 

In the gloaming of a beautiful evening we sailed 
out into the main river, leaving the channels of the 
delta behind us. The river is here studded by four 
islands. 

20th.— As soon as it was light we had a good 
view of the high lands to the south, the Isnataca 
range. There are so many bends and low islands, 
that one is not here impressed, as might be ex- 
pected, by the really grand proportions of the 
Orinoco. During the night we coasted the largo 
isle of Tortola, and passed the town of Barrancas. 
In the dry seasons the breeze blows from the coast. 
We now went steadily along before it. The hills 
closely approach the river on the south side, at a 
point where there are some rocks called Morocoto. 
From thence to the Sorondo headland, wooded, 
gently undulating hills rise from the savannah 
lands, and appear eminently adapted for settle- 
ments ; for they are a combination of pasture and 
planting grounds. Cresting some large boulder 
rocks, and embedded in brushwood, the curious old 
fortified Spanish settlement, called Old Guayana, 
rose before us ; we noted its cottage-like houses as 
we sailed under it. It was emblematic of the pic- 
turesque decrepitude of the Spanish main. On the 
other bank the famous Llanos stretch away hundreds 
of miles towards Caracas, and the great savannahs 
of the Apure. On the Gruayana side are thick 
woods and occasional savannah. Wild fowl had 



14 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

latterly been abundant. At night we cast anchor 
at the so-called puerto, Las Tablas. It was a fine 
moonlight. Next morning I went on shore; the 
settlement is a wretched place, built on the top of a 
sloping bank of sand and rock, backed by scrubby 
brushwoods. It is near the mouth of the Caroni, 
and owes its existence to the traffic with the newly 
discovered and rich gold-mines of the Caratel dis- 
trict. Following the right bank for a considerable 
distance, unmixed with the turbid Orinoco, the 
clear dark water of the Caroni was to be dis- 
tinguished. As yet I had seen or heard nothing of 
" the Southerners " said to be settled in this neigh- 
bourhood. Owing to the sandy nature of the soil, 
these woods are stunted in comparison with the 
forests of the other parts of tropical America. It is 
not until you reach the upj)er lands, which by their 
rising cause the rapids of the main river and its 
tributaries, that you meet with the true Guayana 
forest. In the forests of the upper Orinoco, from 
the cataracts of Maypures to the mouth of the 
Cassiquiare, I afterwards met with the most enor- 
mous trees I had ever beheld. They were usually 
of the kinds called by the natives Cachicamo and 
J asapas. 

For the last two nights I had enjoyed delightful 
sleerj ; it was almost like an escape from u Inferno " 
to get clear of the mosquitos of the delta. We 
passed sundry rocky islets and boulders as we sailed 
along ; their surfaces were black and shining, from 
the alternate action of the sun and Orinoco water. 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



15 



At frequent intervals at this season long flats of 
sand are exposed. Some parts of the Gruayana side 
have quite an European appearance — one long 
ridge behind another, the timber apparently low 
and scattered. On the under side of the limbs of 
some trees hangs a kind of moss, which floats out 
on the wind like a mane. 

At sunset we passed Gruarampo, a place like two 
rounded hills, and three islands of rock and sand. 
During the night we ran on a shoal, and experienced 
some difficulty in getting off again. Heavy rain 
fell after the moon had gone down ; however, 
wrapj)ed in my waterproof poncho, I cared little 
for a moderate amount of damping. In January 
many of the trees are bare of leaves, giving quite a 
dried-up look to some districts. From the rocky 
nature of the river beds, the water off some of the 
points appeared boiling. About noon we passed 
betwixt the shining black rocks, Eosario and 
Rosarila ; then a dome-shaped mass, called Conejo, 
which was crowned with cactus. All these rocks 
are alike, black and shining. I can only compare 
their lustre to a well-brushed fire-stove, and they 
give a peculiar character to the scenery of this river. 
We saw very few " caymans," alligators, of any size. 
We passed a fine, trim schooner (the first sign of 
trade yet seen) cautiously bearing down against the 
east breeze. I noticed that the top of every sandy 
bank near a hut was planted with "pateas," a kind 
of water melon. 

At sundown, sailing by the point of Angosturita, 



16 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

we approached Angostura (the straits), or, as it 
is now called, Ciudacl Bolivar, after the revolu- 
tionary hero of the country. This is the chief, or I 
should say, the only town of Spanish Guayana, 
and is built on a low hill, backed by sandy 
savannah lands, and flanked by a lagoon. It 
looked picturesque, with its painted cathedral and 
flat-topped houses standing out in relief against 
the clear evening sky. 

23rd. — I went to the Government House, 
through rough-paved, but clean streets, and was 
very kindly received by the Governor, Dalla -Costa. 
Like every one else here, he seemed to thinkmuch 
of the new gold-mines of the Ciudad district beyond 
Upala. He gave me a sort of recommendatory 
paper, which I afterwards found very useful with 
the " prefect os" of the interior villages. Fish 
abound in the Orinoco, some of great delicacy, 
others larger, but good eating. The smaller kinds 
would afford capital sj)ort to a fly -rod. 

Two fine German or Dutch brigs lay off the 
town, also an American vessel, and two or three 
fore-and-aft schooners, in the salt trade of the Araya 
peninsula, and the cattle exportation with Demerara 
and Trinidad. 

Being obliged to stay here for some time, the 
hours hung heavily, as the neighbouring country 
is not particularly interesting. On principle, I took 
my daily constitutional (I believe exercise is even 
more essential to health in a tropical than in a cold 
country) away from the town, over the stony paths, 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 17 

betwixt hedges of tall cactus and sparse, dried-up 
bushes. Some of the low places following water- 
courses were green and pretty enough. The 
natives call them the " manrichal," from the man- 
riche palms that adorn them. The usual living 
things to be encountered, besides the ever-present 
Zamora vultures (the " turkey-buzzard" of the 
Yankees), are flocks of ground-doves and paro- 
quets, and a few gay-coloured finches. There 
are four species of tropical starlings common on the 
Orinoco, all lively in habits, even to a greater 
degree than our starling. Some of them are good 
songsters ; they live generally in societies. One, 
the most striking in ajDpearance, is clothed in 
yellow and black, brought into vivid contrast on the 
back ; he also rejoices in blue eyes and a cream- 
coloured bill. The other kinds have jackets of 
orange, yellow, and black, in various proportions, 
yellow preponderating, with the exception of one 
in shining black, enlivened by light eyes of the 
greatest brilliancy. The tail feathers take a sin- 
gular wedge shape, something like a common barn- 
door fowl, but the point of the wedge is directed 
downwards instead of up. 

The number of ants visible everywhere is one of 
the features of this part of the world. As I was 
sitting under the big Cieba, or milk cotton-trees, 
reading, as I usually did in the mornings, I saw 
a great instance of the sagacity of these little 
creatures. The entrance to their excavation was 

on the top of the river bank, in a place exposed to 

c 



18 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, 



the heavy squalls ; therefore, when working below, 
they piled the grains of earth, "brought to the 
surface in their mouths, well to leeward, to prevent 
their being blown down into the hole again. 
These ants were of the small species, and give out 
an aromatic smell if crushed. Some sultry after- 
noons later in the season, I saw numbers of gigantic 
individuals of the leaf-carrying Saiiba species, "bis- 
cachos." They were winged females, but their 
beautiful transparent wings are only the gift of an 
hour ; for after the first use of them, which enables 
the insect to rise on the breeze, and be wafted to a 
distance, they either drop off or are detached. 
Thus she becomes the progenitor of a new colony 
of her kind. The greatest flights occur during 
the heavy evenings at the beginning of the rainy 
season. These ants, when full grown, are an 
inch in length, and when on the wing, they 
resemble the wasps called " Jack Spaniards " in the 
West Indies. Once alighted after their journey, 
and finding it difficult, if not impossible, to rise 
again, they deliberately stood on their heads, 
and brushed off their wings with their hind legs. 
Their bodies were full of eggs. Often as they came 
heavily to the ground they were seized and de- 
voured by a swift-footed lizard. This lizard has a 
peculiar trick of nodding its head, in the manner of 
' the toy jack-asses of the Lowther Arcade. They 
dart from the crannies of the buttress-like roots 
of the Cieba trees. All the hens in the neighbour- 
hood seemed also on the look ouE) for dainties, 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 19 

and ran after the flights of insects as they sank 
earthward, with outstretched necks. 

The only hotel is, as usual in Venezuela, kept 
by Germans. I swung my hammock in a large 
stone-flagged room ; the charge, inclusive of meals, 
was two dollars a day. The scenery, after one 
attains a certain elevation, although not altogether 
beautiful, is singularly majestic ; it seems so evident 
that a great continent, with rivers, forests, sandy 
deserts, plains, all on the grandest scale, is opening 
to view. The soil is almost all sand ; and what is 
called by Humboldt, Amphibolic rock, I believe, 
everywhere forms the surface, except in favoured 
hollows, where grow plenty of cachew and mangoe. 
The bird of sweetest note here is robed in sober 
grey; his song somewhat reminded me of our 
thrush. In this hemisphere, it is not so much the 
height of the temperature that is felt, but its con- 
tinued heat all the year round. 

February 11th. — I procured a boat from Senor 
Antonio Dalla Costa for my purposed trip to the 
Caura. She had once been the life-boat of a steamer, 
but having been long exposed to the sun and rain, 
Rogers and I were at work on her for some time : 
being of iron, I found that our skill would not 
suffice to put her in order; and, after all, I was 
forced to abandon her. As I was thus compelled 
to prolong my stay, I removed my hammock to the 
house of an American woman, one of the last of 
the southern settlers, who came two years before. 
Nothing so impresses upon a traveller the great 



20 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

distance, in these latitudes, separating him from 
home, as the starry face of the sky — the polar star, 
planted so high at home, here just topping the trees. 
The sun rises and sets somewhere about six- o'clock. 
One scarcely dare venture a swim in the river at 
Angostura. I did so at first, till assured of the pro- 
bable great danger from the " tembladors " (electric 
eels). A shock from an eel would send a bather to 
the bottom without reprieve : this was a tremendous 
denial in such a climate ; however, there was the 
alternative of bathing in the shallow sandy creek 
beyond the town, with a "tutuma" or calabash, 
in the cool of the mornings. Poor Kogers was 
struck by a "ray a," " sting-ray," whilst wading in 
the shallow water at the brink of the river, and 
suffered considerably; his leg swelled, and he 
was rendered almost incapable of walking for some 
twenty -four hours. A few Indians of the painted 
tribes from the interior are occasionally to be seen 
lounging about the stores ; but the aborigines 
usually frequenting the town are Caribs, still robed 
in the deep blue cloth described by Humboldt, and 
are the most important of the native tribes : in 
person, they are fine men, of full coppery com- 
plexion. 

They inhabit the lands lying between this 
river and the old missions of the north coast and 
Piritu : Governor Dalla Costa estimated their 
number at not less than 40,000. Angostura relies 
largely upon the Caribs for its supply of cassave, 
the bread-stuff of the population: this they bring 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 21 



from their conucos for sale in great flat cakes. A 
branch of the race living about the head of the 
Pomeroon and Caroni dress in paint and feathers, 
much as the other Guayana Indians. The in- 
habitants of Ciudad Bolivar are a conglomeration 
of Spanish, Indian, and Negro; but the merchants 
of the town are chiefly Germans. The roads and 
Government works are made and kept in order by 
a chain-gang of the criminal prisoners, there being 
no heavier punishment for crime. The convicts 
are brought out every morning to work under 
guard, and a more villanous-looking collection of 
different types of men I think I never beheld. 
Among them was a low-class Frenchman, who, 
associated with a repulsive visaged Negro, had 
long been in the habit of robbing and murdering 
travellers on the road from the Caratel mines. On 
the quay, one day, some soldiers ran past, loading 
their old flint-lock muskets as they went, halting 
occasionally to level a shot at a man who had just 
left a pulperia, and was making up the road. The 
object of pursuit (but that day released from a 
term of imprisonment) had found his former sweet- 
heart at the pulperia in the company of a rival, 
and overpowered by jealousy, had run her through 
with a machete. The miscreant was a tall Negro, 
who had been notorious as a bully among his fellow 
convicts ; he was ultimately severely wounded and 
captured. 

I did not long taste the hospitality of my 
American hostess ; she was not blessed with a par- 



22 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

ticularly amiable temper, and she kept a stock of 
some dozen parrots in readiness for a Yankee/ 
skipper, who traded with New York. Imagine(^th^ 
haying to dine and cany on a correspondence m 
the parrot-house of the Zoological Gardens, and 
then an idea can be formed of the continual riot 
I was expected to endure patiently. 

I shifted my quarters to the house of a good 
old Barbadoes woman, who was quite motherly 
to Rogers when he had the fever. The domicile of 
Mother Saidy was a sort of reunion for all the 
niggers from the British West India Islands, where 
they met to discuss affairs private and political. It 
was most amusing to see what pride they took in 
being British subjects, and the contempt in which 
they held their dark brothers of the main. Mother 
Saidy had also a weakness for jncking up, and 
caring for stray chicks of doubtful pedigree. 

The affairs of the Venezuela Company appeared 
to be in a deplorable condition : the several batches 
of American emigrants (southerners), when they 
arrived, found no preparation had been made for 
their reception, nor was there a competent agency 
to direct their movements ; the consequence was, - 
that discovering much of what they had been led 
to expect untrue, they became disgusted with the 
country, and, instead of keeping together for 
mutual assistance, many of the younger men went 
to the mines, and the others dis})ersed in different 
directions. From what I heard of them, they seem 
to have been anything but well-selected, respectable 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 23 

men, and, for the most part, the offspring and 
refuse of the long civil war. The sites chosen on 
the Paraguay (tributary of the Caroni), for those 
who did not afterwards come provided with imple- 
ments and materials for farming, were singularly 
unhappy, as the sole means of communication with 
Ciudad Bolivar is by donkeys, and that sorry mode 
of conveyance difficult to obtain. Had the unfor- 
tunate people been located up the main river in 
the vicinity of the Caura, and had they combined 
interests, they might have effected something. 
Leaving out the consideration of the expense, no 
reliance can be placed on the native labour: a 
colony must, to prosper, be self-supporting and 
independent ; besides, Venezuelan morals are so 
despicably corrupt, that I think no Englishman or 
American would like to introduce the women of his 
household within hearing of the common every-day 
parlance. If the settlers had gone up the stream, 
they would have gained the advantage of easy 
access to the market at Bolivar ; even if they were 
destitute of boats, their produce could have been 
rafted down to the town. Should the Venezuela 
Company not be able to organize their next emi- 
gration better, it would be wiser to abandon the 
design in the beginning, as a failure must in- 
variably end in the disappointment and distress of 
all engaged therein. It is much to be desired that 
the published statements as to the easiness of pro- 
curing labourers for the farms, &c, should be 
corrected, as they are calculated to raise false 



24 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



impressions and expectations : at the same time, 
there can be no doubt of the natural richness of the 
soil in trojncal produce. 

19th. — With the assistance of Mr. Derbyshire, 
an English trader on the river, I engaged an 
experienced pilot, named Ventura, and purchased 
a fast little native-built lancha, as I purposed 
exploring the Caura in search of india-rubber. 
Angostura is situate in that drier district of South 
America which extends from the Cumana coast, 
embracing the Llanos and part of the lower 
Orinoco. The prevailing appearance of drought is 
in the dry season heightened by the surrounding 
savannahs, the surfaces of which are broken only 
by rocky ridges, with stunted cachew and chapparo 
trees, and bushy thickets, often burnt by fire. 

On Monday, February 22nd, we sailed from 
Ciudad Bolivar early, running as far as Almacen, 
a little hamlet on the south bank. 

23rd. — The Orinoco is here near its lowest, and 
it was difficult to keep the channels between the 
sand-banks; having run aground, we got off with 
some trouble, and I made the lancha fast for the 
night in a small basin betwixt the rocks, near the 
village, or pueblo, of Borboa, I despatched Rogers 
and Ventura there, as w r e stood in need of a canoe 
curiara; they were unable to obtain anything of 
the sort, and I remained for the night on the sand. 

24th.- — The lancha sailed fast before the east 
wind ; the breeze was strong ; so fearing shoals, we 
reefed the main-sail. Passed the mouth of the Rio 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



25 



Aro ; at this season only navigable for canoes. The 
timber on the immediate banks is small, but many 
of the tree-tops, rising above the general line of the 
woods, are very graceful in form. At mid-day we 
reached the Isla and Roca del Pao, where I put in 
for the night, at the village Muitaca, in order to try 
again for a canoe. The view in ascending the 
river was very fine. 

25th. — Having succeeded in obtaining a curiam, 
we set sail about noon, came to anchor near the 
great bend of the river called the Torno, where the 
Orinoco is turned from its last course by a knot 
of hills on the Guayana side, and round which 
it makes a sharp detour to windward, troublesome 
in sailing up stream. 

For three days we were prevented from rounding 
the Torno, and were obliged to work a part of 
the fourth, although it was Sunday. 

I lost my anchor, which was ultimately the 
cause of much vexation. A bend seen from the 
river reminded me of the black hills of South 
Wales ; it was the end of the line of hills, and 
occasioned us our double labour. 

March 1st. — Passed Roca del Inferno, a place 
where the river is compressed betwixt high rocky 
shores, and divided by an island. We stopped 
at the pueblo of Mapire, situated on the left bank, 
to lay in a stock of the cassave bread. 

2nd. — We spent the night on a sand-spit, not 
far from the mouth of the Caura, and I shot the 
largest Muscovy drake I ever saw here : being only 



26 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



wounded, he led me a long journey through a 
shallow, muddy lagoon, before securing him. 

Four kinds of ducks are to be had in great 
abundance, especially during the dry season — the 
large green Muscovy, the long-legged " cara- 
tero," a smaller red-legged species, and a kind 
of teal, " quiriri." The long-necked darter or 
" cortua" is plentiful, and much prized for its 
fleshy substantial proportions — an important con- 
sideration when the ajDpetites of a large party are 
concerned. When shooting in the mangrove 
swamp on the sea-coasts, I had found this bird 
so intolerably rank as to be quite uneatable ; but 
here on the Orinoco it proved excellent fare, 
and resembled goose in flavour. 

We got within the mouth of the Caura in the 
morning, but were frequently aground from the 
lowness of the river. After proceeding about a 
mile, the men said we could go no farther in the 
lancha, in which dilemma I insisted upon making 
every trial possible, and at length we discovered a 
tortuous channel, with sufficient depth of water, 
winding in and out the sand-banks. 

4th. — The wind favouring us, we pushed on 
again. 

On the Caura, the sand-flies were exceedingly 
annoying during the day, but at night we slept free 
from mosquito attacks. The banks soon became 
high, and are here composed of white clay. A 
pair of cranes had built their nest (which looked 
like a basket of sticks lodged in the central fork of 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 27 

the branches) in a great, spreading Cieba tree. 
The flesh of the green Soldado crane of the Orinoco 
is excellent. The appellation of " soldiers " is very 
appropriate, when these cranes are descried through 
the mists of the dawn on the river, or drawn up on 
moonlight nights on the playas, or sand-banks, as if 
in motionless ranks, like those of an army in readi- 
ness for the encounter with the enemy. About 
noon we had a glimpse of hills, then passed a little 
creek from the last leading to the pueblo (Indian 
village) of San Pedro. We sailed on slowly till 
afternoon, then camped at an island called Los 
Tembladors (electric eels). 

5th to 16th. — We had much trouble with the 
lancha, standing up to the middle in water, vainly 
trying to coax her into some channel. I deter- 
mined to push on in the curiara with Ventura, who 
could paddle well, leaving Rogers in charge behind. 
Paddling until afternoon, we reached an inhabited 
place : we moored the curiara here, and struck out 
for the country, in order to avoid the windings 
of the river : crossing first the belt of wood 
skirting the water, and then marching over a high 
savannah country, in some places recently burnt. 
We waded through a small stream, the water of 
which looked dark in the starlight, with its dusky 
girdle of tall palm trees. We slept an hour or two 
at an empty house we discovered on the other side 
of the stream, and again pushed on across the 
burnt brushwood, reaching the pueblo of Maripa 
soon after dawn, tired with our march. As the sun 



28 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

rose, the view of the blue hills over the river 
was beautiful ; on the other hand, a great savannah 
stretched away indistinctly in the mists of the 
morning like a sea, the line of horizon broken only 
in one direction by the summits of a cluster of 
mountains, probably the same which cause the 
first rapids of the Caura ; the level of the plain 
rarely, and only broken by an occasional range 
of Manriche palms, with little thickets about their 
bases, in indication of some watercourse. 

The prefecto of Maripa was absent from the 
place, collecting sarapia (Dipteryx odorata) (tonka 
bean), which ajDpears to be the chief thing looked 
after on the Caura by the lazy natives. They are 
able to collect enough during the season to enable 
them to obtain all the necessaries they require for 
the year, not even cultivating cassave, or frijoles, 
but relying for provisions on their neighbours up 
and down stream. The woods abound in medicinal 
trees. A variety of quinine is said to be found 
here. Generally the banks of the lower course 
of the Caura are fringed by a belt of forest, more or 
less broad ; then the ground rises considerably, 
and stretches away in the sandy savannahs. Some- 
times, however, the savannah ridge descends 
abruptly to the river, forming a bluff. As a rule, 
the forest belt gradually broadens as the raudales 
are approached, and is wider at Aripao than at 
Maripa. 

I walked to Arirmo, the next pueblo up the river, 
with Ventura; like Maripa, it is situated on the 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



29 



high sandy savannah away back from the river, and 
the plague of sand-flies. It has some fifty men 
negroes, descendants of runaway slaves from the old 
British settlements on the Demerara. With the 
assistance of the Spanish prefecto, I hired a large 
canoe, to bring up the demi-johns I had in the 
lancha for collecting balsam. 

From Aripao there is a beautiful view of the 
Hilaria Hills on the other side of the river. Not 
being able to procure the necessary provisions, I 
was compelled to return immediately to Maripa. 
Ventura and I had only eaten frijoles (beans), and 
hojDing for a reinforcement for our larder, were on 
our way down stream before day. 

8th. — In the evening we reached the lancha, and 
found all well with Rogers. Having secured the 
lancha fore and aft in a deep pool near Los 
Tembladors, we conveyed everything from her to 
Maripa, my purpose being to leave her here until I 
could bring something to freight her, — balsam 
capivi, &c, — and then return to Angostura for the 
season. 

11th. — We reached Maripa early, and saw the 
prefecto, a very tall black man, of singularly pre- 
possessing appearance. On the strength of my 
official letter, he bestowed sufficient provisions upon 
me for our ascent of the river, and promised me an 
introduction to an Indian " Capitan." I purchased 
a large bull for about £4, no meat-provender being 
forthcoming otherwise : this delayed me for two 
days to dry the meat, after salting it. 



30 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

The river, after rising several feet, went down 
as much. I obtained two Indians from San Pedro, 
the village of the Arigua, a remnant of a once 
numerous tribe. The Capitan of the pueblo accom- 
panied me up the river, to recommend me to a chief 
who was a relative of his. 

15th. — Ventura was very drunk, having induced 
me to give him an advance. As he interfered with 
the start, I had him stowed away at the bottom of 
the canoe as ballast. We only got as far as the 
puerto of Aripao, where we camped. Here I bought 
a good curiara for thirty pesos. I had lightened 
my baggage as much as possible, in order to make 
the most speed up the rapids. 

16th. — Camped on the left bank: many people 
were collecting sarapia. 

17th. — Started about ten; came to the mouth 
of the Mato. The woods continued free from much 
undergrowth, and were now interspersed with 
cacurito, zagua (wine), and other palms. 

The water of this river is coffee-coloured in 
shadow, and reflects objects on the banks very dis- 
tinctly. 

18th. — We had a first experience of a wet camp 
on the river, for it rained all night. My mode of 
travelling was to take tea and " a bite" (literally) 
of cassave, or something, and be under weigh by 
sunrise. Halt for one or two hours, and breakfast 
at mid-day. Camp about an hour before sundown, 
or earlier, if a convenient spot offered. We halted 
to-day near the end of Isla Larga. Great domed 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 31 

rocks now rose from the bed of the river. We 
entered the first rapids of the Caura, called Mura, 
which at this season are very dry, and the flow, 
therefore, is not so great. The pools among the 
stones of these raudales were full of an elegantly 
shaped shell. A species of cicada makes a tuneful 
sound in the neighbouring woods, which closely 
resembles the jingling of little bells; another 
approximates in sound to the whistle of a lively 
locomotive. Whilst the camping preparations were 
in progress, great masses of cloud rolled up from 
behind the forest, well harmonizing in grandeur 
with the mighty boulder-stones of the raudales. We 
were deluged with rain for the greater part of the 
night. The best course to pursue in camp during 
such weather is to stretch a cord above your ham- 
mock, after it is slung between two trees ; over this 
cast a rug, which will give you a tent-roof, and you 
may sleep underneath it in defiance of any amount 
of rain. 



32 



CHAPTER III. 

March 19th. — In the morning we proceeded up 
amid the great water-worn boulders, which form 
the Mura raudales. After our halt, the river 
became somewhat cleared of obstructions. I tasted 
the fruit which contains the sarapia or tonka-bean 
for the first time ; moistened with water it is very 
refreshing. The graceful Manac palm is also to be 
seen on these banks, and the zagua. Camped for 
the night at the edge of the beautiful woods which 
clothe the hills at the foot of the Piritu rapids. 

20th. — A wet camp. We passed up the raudales 
of Piritu ; the woods looked very inviting, the 
foliage of the trees beautifully varied. There were 
many sarapia and balsam capivi ; those nearest] the 
bank were festooned with the graceful levaina 
creeper. At noon, we arrived at the first jrarely 
Indian settlement on the Caura, Chapparo, the head 
man and men of the village were absent up the 
river, so that I was compelled to wait for their 
return, there being no other alternative. 

2 1st. — Palm Sunday. Chapparo was so infested 
with niguas, that the Indians were obliged to sleep 
elsewhere. When evening came, we, together with 
the remaining inhabitants, embarked in the curiaras, 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



33 



and paddling over to one of the little rocky islets, 
swung our hammocks in the clumps of trees occu- 
pying the centre. There the nights were pleasant 
enough ; as it was the dry season, it seldom rained, 
and owing to the huge masses of sun-heated rock, 
the air was of a very uniform temperature. 

Here, at Chapparo, I found myself in a purely 
aboriginal society, with the same primitive manners 
and almost the same personal habits as among 
several of the remoter tribes in Central America. 
These Indians had fine clearings, planted with 
cassave (manioc), sugar-cane, &c. ; but they do not 
care to cultivate fruit, with the exception of a few 
pine-apples and bananas. One of the little Indian 
girls had flaxen hair, but bore no other European 
resemblance. 

25th. — I occupied the time in searching the 
forest in all directions for sarapia ; trees abounded, 
but they bore little or no fruit in this district. The 
balsam trees are easily recognized by their peculiar 
light green foliage, and the light colour of the 
smooth bark of their limbs ; the sarapia, on the 
contrary, has heavy, dark green leaves ; it is said 
to bear abundantly only on alternate years : the 
fruit of the sarapia, of the Caura and Cuchivero is 
largely consumed by the Indians ; the stone con- 
tains the tonka-bean of commerce. The variety of 
the sarapia I afterwards saw on the Rio Negro of 
Brazil, at the rapids of San Gabriel, and elsewhere, 
was not edible. In my tramps through the forest, 
I always carry my double-barrel gun, and I used to 

D 



34: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

make Ventura sling my short Snider across his 
shoulders. I am sure, had he come under the 
notice of any civilized person, he would have been 
considered a most desperate character, although he 
was really anything but formidable. A great deal 
of his fierceness lay in his unkempt, lank, black 
hair and beard, and a barber would soon have 
denuded him of his apparent ferocity. 

The Caura above the settlement is much divided 
by islands, and the channels between them are 
impeded by rocky runs. In the wet season this 
portion of the river must be impassable. The left 
banks are held by the Taparitos, a race of Indios 
bravos, hostile Indians, of whom the scattered 
Arigua stand in considerable awe. There does not 
appear to be much actual fighting between them, 
however, as an alarm of their approach occasions 
a general bolt into the bush. The Taparitos then 
content themselves with planting a few arrows in 
the deserted houses as a defiance. 

25th. — Good Friday. — The night before, an 
alarm of the hostile Taparitos excited our island 
camp, by the appearance of a strange fire on the 
bank opposite, which was an uninhabited forest ; 
but as it soon vanished, it must have been a will- 
o'-the-wisp. The old Caj)itan was away fishing, as 
usual, having left the women folk in our charge. 
When in the wilderness, my gun is always ready 
for decisive action, and I told Roger to get out 
a few Boxer cartridges for the Snider. 

Although we had no rain, this morning the 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 35 

heavens were draped with heavy cloud cur- 
tains. 

27th. — Easter Sunday. — The tree called Flor- 
amarillo was foliaged (no leaves) with flowers of the 
brightest yellow; the wood of this tree is very 
hard, yellow, with a dark heart, — from the latter the 
Indians make bows : the flower remains but a day 
or two, and then gives place to green leaves. The 
lofty tree called Cooti, now lost its heavy bunches 
of violet blossoms, which before had rendered it 
so conspicuous among the other forest trees. The 
Cieba, or milk cotton-tree, grows to an enormous 
height and girth, throwing out great flanking 
buttresses, between which there are often black- 
looking cavities, appropriate lodgings for the great 
Tigre of these solitudes. One day, whilst resting 
on the rocks by the water-side, after a hard 
morning's work, cutting black-wood in the forest, 
we saw a curiara full of men making for the settle- 
ment : they proved to be a party of Guangomo, 
from the source of the Caura. They were armed 
with the blow-tube as well as the bow, and were 
adorned with large coronets of parrot and macaw 
feathers. The Arigua Indians understood nothing 
of their tongue ; they awaited the head-man, whom 
they had come to see in return for his visit to their 
settlement. I certainly never saw Indians paddle 
more vigorously, though their arms were tightly 
bandaged just below the shoulder, causing the 
muscles of the upper arm to swell out considerably; 
but it did not appear to inconvenience or retard 



36 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

them in the least. They wore ornaments of wood 
sticking through the under lip. 

April 1st. — The men of the settlement not 
haying come back, and as I could not get sufficient 
people to explore the river for india-rubber, I 
determined to go higher up to the next serra, where 
there was a probability of plenty of game and fish. 
The old Capitan of the Arigua and his son accom- 
panied me. After starting, we first came to the 
little river Cani, where we found the party of 
Gruangomo engaged in making a curiara from 
a large sasafras tree. They were burly fellows, 
with deep copper-coloured skins. In feature they 
were anything but handsome. I have never seen 
as strikingly handsome faces in South America 
as some of the Central American indigenes. These 
Indians seemed to have a great partiality for tame 
animals. This was only a travelling party, yet 
they had parrots and macaws about the camp. 
They lent me their long, light canoe in exchange 
for mine, to be returned when next we met, as mine 
was heavy, and little suited to the present journey. 
Next day, we passed Serra Cangrejo early : it is 
situated on the right bank, and clothed with a 
magnificent forest, and the vapours of a rainy night 
were rolling away up its side. It is wonderful 
what majesty is sometimes lent to a scene in the 
tropics by the rolling cloud and the mist. The 
woods above the Cani have a truly gorgeous appear- 
ance, owing to the number of picti and zagua 
palms. In the afternoon of the preceding clay we 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 37 

had a taste of the rains; but although clouds of 
rain and vapour passed over us, we had a roaring 
fire in camp. 

Leaving the main river, we entered the Nicare. 
Our first evening camp on this tributary was 
pitched at a short distance from the mouth. We 
had a monstrous supper — panji (a sort of wild 
turkey), heron, ibis, electric eel, and sting-ray. 

2nd. — We continued our progress up the stream, 
and came to an afternoon halt ; El Capitan going 
fishing, whilst we made preparation for the 
night. The water of the Nicare is more like that 
of the Orinoco than the clear brown tide of the 
Caura. This branch river seems a favourite locality 
with the macaw. I saw several pairs with nests in 
the trees on the banks. They make their nests in 
a hole high up in a hollow tree. Through the 
opening of one of these holes I caught the bright 
plumage of the hen, while the male bird occupied 
an adjacent bough. The forest on the Nicare is, 
for the most part, remarkably clear, and wild 
plantains are very numerous, and grow to a great 
height. 

The stream is famous for excellent fish. In the 
morning I had been into the forest with my gun ; 
after shooting a^ few birds, a feeling of giddy faint- 
ness came over me, accompanied by a disagreeable 
sensation of doubt as to whether I should be able to 
get back to the camp ; however, shaking myself 
together, I made an effort, and succeeded in reach- 
ing that destination just before the fever obtained 



38 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



mastery over my limbs. I remember at the time 
connecting this sudden seizure with the effluvia of a 
tree that I had notched for the purpose of examining 
the wood. 

5th. — I broke up our fishing-camp, and started 
down to the Arigua village. These Indians have a 
pale skin. Their language, like that of some of the 
other American tribes, has the singular appearance 
of the words being enunciated with difficulty, as if 
a slight stutter incommoded the freedom of the 
tongue; that of the Guangomo, on the contrary, 
is loud and harsh. 

15th. — We were obliged to start down stream, 
as we were all (Ventura and Rogers as well as 
myself) touched with fever. 

24th. — Halted for several days at Maripa, to 
recruit a little strength. In the forced journey 
from Arigua to this place, we suffered dreadfully 
from exposure to the sun whilst the fever was upon 
us. Ventura alone was able to use a paddle, so 
after passing the rapids, we made the three curiaras 
fast together, and dropped down at mid-stream. We 
were compelled to continue throughout the day, as 
we were quite out of provisions. The only manner 
in which I could obtain anything approaching to 
relief, was to keep a towel constantly saturated 
with water over my head. Also, after the paroxysm 
of fever had abated, I would, during a halt in 
the cool of the morning or evening, drag myself 
to the brink of the river, and lay myself down in 
the rippling water. At Maripa I got two Indians 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 39 

from the village of San Pedro. When we reached 
Los Tembladors, where I had left my lancha, I 
found that during my absence on the upper river, 
some of the rascally Venezuelans who frequent the 
neighbourhood of the Mato Hills dining the sarapia 
season, had stolen the hawser by which she had 
been made fast. We discovered her stranded on 
her side, left by the receding river; the upper 
portion had become so warped, and the planks 
so opened by the sun of the dry season, that we 
were obliged to abandon her, and continue on in 
the three canoes. We halted only once more on 
the Caura, in order to visit a reedy lagoon in search 
of game. We wounded one deer, which got off, but 
we secured plenty of ducks : the water was nearly 
dried up, with the exception of a pool or two near 
the centre of the lagoon. These were literally full 
of small turtles. Ventura quickly denuded himself 
of his nether garments, and tying a piece of string 
round the end of each leg, he soon filled them with 
little turtles ; he presented a ridiculous spectacle, 
capering about through the deep black mud in 
chase of the scattering reptiles and wounded ducks. 
When he marched back to the canoe, he looked 
exactly as if lie had on a pair of dust-coloured 
tights. 

On the Orinoco during the dry season heavy 
squalls are frequent, and the only warning given is 
a sudden lowering of the sky in the direction of the 
danger. A few days after we had left the Caura, 
we were very nearly coining to grief in one of 



40 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

these temporals. We were coasting a long line of 
abrupt bank or bluff, called barrancas, when the 
experienced eyes of my two Arigua caught a 
warning from the clouds ; it then, of course, became 
a race for it, for if a canoe were caught in a 
temporal against a barranca, it would inevitably 
be swamped. We just managed to gain a place 
where shelving sand stretched down from the bluff, 
and to run the head of the canoes on the sands ; 
but ere the Indians could draw them fairly up, 
the water curling before the driving squall washed 
clean over them. They filled directly. However, 
we held on, and so prevented their being washed 
away, and in half an hour all was over. I had my 
two cases of Eley's cartridges lifted out and brought 
on shore to be dried in the sun, little expecting 
that they would ever be fit for anything again, 
as they had been a considerable time under water 
in the canoe. When they were dry, I was 
agreeably surprised to find that they went off as if 
nothing particular had occurred to them. We 
got safely back to Angostura on the morning of the 
8th of May, having left Maripa on the 25th of 
April. 

The month of May was excessively dry and 
hot at Angostura ; but the Orinoco (the upper 
course of which travels amid humid forests, where 
the air is ever laden with vajDOurs) continued to 
rise steadily, bearing along on its bosom uprooted 
trees. The stony hills, jDerhaps I should rather say 
ridges, opposite the town had, within a few showery 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 41 

days, become so modified in their outline by the 
fresh verdure of the small trees, as to be, if not 
exactly picturesque, at any rate pleasing to look 
upon. 

The small trees of these ridges of the lower 
Orinoco are generally bare of leaf during the dry 
season. A very curious kind of cactus is here to be 
seen in societies ; it is cylindrical and domed in 
form, but does not attain more than a foot and a 
half in height. Its fluted edges are thickly studded 
with a cluster of sharp spines : on its top it has a 
boss of silky substance, somewhat resembling cotton 
wool ; from this it produces delicate little crimson 
flowers, which pass away with the freshness of the 
morning, in a day or so to give place to a small 
fruit, in taste like a hedge-row strawberry. It is 
curious to see the flowers and fruit come up out of 
what appears to be only dry, silky cotton. 

One of the most noticeable natural features of 
this part of the country is the changing course of 
the wind (the Trades). 

Blow it strongly, breathe it softly — 

it is still from the same north-easterly quarter. A 
calm is always succeeded at this season by a squall 
of wind and rain. 

On the 4th of June the first heavy fail of rain 
caused vegetation to spring up so rapidly on the 
sandy ground, so dry before, that we had difficulty 
in recognizing places we were familiar with. Deli- 
cately blossomed plants sprang up wherever the 



42 A JOURNEY TRHOUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

ground was shaded by cachew, mimosa, and mangoe 
trees, in the neighbourhood of the rapid little sandy 
stream running between the stony hill on which 
the Ciudad is situated, and the bluffs of the great 
savannah beyond. Very many of the flowers were 
violet of various shades. 

Ciudad Bolivar has a fine market near the river ; 
but though the market-place is good, it is miserably 
appointed: the most prominent objects are two 
enormously fat women, who have stalls, one on 
each side of the entrance. I think these individuals 
must nearly approach the proportions of those 
royal beauties described by travellers in Central 
Africa. 

I again took my meals at the house of my old 
friend, the good-natured Barbadoes woman, Mother 
Saidy. After I had been staying with her, she 
evinced such a partiality for me, that I found it 
difficult to discover when she required money for 
marketing, unless Rogers undertook the office of 
finding out the necessity existing. 

Owing to the loss of my lancha, and the conse- 
quent collapse of my projects on the Caura, I deter- 
mined to make a push for the Amazon valley, by 
way of the raudales of the Orinoco. Watkins, a 
young Southerner, desired to join me. We arranged 
that we should pass the Orinoco Cataracts of Atures 
and Maypures, and thus gain the Rio Negro, and 
thence the Amazon, either by the Cassiquiare or the 
Atabapo. Watkins and I were in good condition, 
and did not fear as to the result. My new comrade 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 43 

had seen much rough service in the late American 
war and in New Mexico, and had just arrived at 
Angostura, walking all the way across the plains 
from Valentia and Caracos. Senor Dalla Costa 
kindly let me have my old Caura curiara back 
again. 



44 



CHAPTER IV. 

August 6th. — I took the steering paddle, and 
started, with Rogers, Watkins, and an Indian, for 
the Rio Negro. Watkins and Rogers were in great 
spirits, and I, of course, did not dwell much upon the 
impending difficulties of the way. Senor Dalla 
Costa gave me letters to the governor of Amazonas, 
as the Venezuelans call their south-west frontier 
district. As it was the starting day, we paddled 
only to about the distance of ten miles above the 
town, and there camped. The rain was nearly at 
its highest, and in consequence the current was 
very strong. 

7th. — This morning we had been travelling 
quite among the tree-tops and wild calabash bushes, 
as the lowlands were under water. We camped by 
three o'clock ; found plenty of iguana in the trees. 
I now began to see that I was fortunate in my 
Indian (Ramon) ; he worked willingly and well, 
and, in his Indian way, did things quietly, without 
my having to remind him of them. * 

8th. — Sunday in camp. The woods had much 
improved since the rains ; everything therein was 
now green and graceful. On the side of the stony 
hill behind our camp were many of the trailing 



A JOUENEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, 



45 



cacti, bearing plenty of their pleasant fruit. Mos- 
quitos swarmed annoyingly, and I feared would 
increase in numbers until we had passed the 
raudales, 

9th. — Thanks to my mosquito curtains, I had a 
good night; but my rug was lost, unfortunately 
being carried away by some thick bushes which 
drooped into the curiara. We were all much 
refreshed by the rest of yesterday at Iguana Camp, 
as Watkins called it. To-day we camped above 
the village of Almacen. 

10th. — I was rather put out by the defection of 
Watkins, who, declaring himself unwell, took leave 
of the expedition, and returned to Bolivar. As I 
had rather relied upon him, I was much disap- 
pointed. It had been very fine throughout the day, 
but now (sun-down in camp) there was a threatening 
squall on the horizon. We camped below Borbon. 
I fancy I should create a crowd in Eegent Street if 
I were to appear in my canoe costume — red flannel 
shirt and pijamas, and on my feet a pair of alpra- 
gatas, a native cross between sandals and slippers : 
here, however, the attire was very suitable to all 
emergencies. Steering even a small curiara such as 
mine was no light labour, day after day, against 
stream. I mostly followed the south bank, and 
dodged in . arrd out among the bushes to avoid the 
current; therefore the distance covered when we 
reached the Rio Negro was immense. After dark I 
was driven from my hammock by a yellow and 
black beetle; my mosquito curtains were no pro- 



46 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

tection from the advances of these creatures, for 
they nimbly ran up the inside : they made a 
curious squeaking noise when disturbed in dis- 
cussing the remains of the supper. Their bite is 
like the fall of a spark of fire on the skin. I often 
encountered this beetle afterwards in the Orinoco, 
but never in such irrepressible numbers. We were 
obliged to take refuge in the canoe, where I passed 
rather an uncomfortable night on the benches. 

11th. — On reaching Borbon I tried to get an 
Indian to take Watkins's deserted paddle, but Ramon 
could find no substitute in the place. I bought 
some tessajo (jerked meat), and then made fast for 
the night under the lee of a large floating log, on 
which we made tea. At this, the height of the 
rainy season, little or no dry land is to be met with 
often for several days' journey. 

12th. — A very wet morning: it cleared up at 
noon, and we crossed the mouth of the Aro. The 
woods here had quite the aspect of our autumnal 
English forest colouring, which likeness was 
heightened by an over-hanging leaden sky, from 
whence descended floods of rain. I missed my lost 
rug very much. 

We paddled late; the woods were everywhere 
flooded, so we made fast to a submerged lavorel 
tree, whereon I slung my hammock between two of 
the limbs, and with the sweet-smelling wood cut 
from its dead branches we made a fire in the fork. 

13th. — During the morning's paddle we came 
to a fine conuco, where all hands were engaged in 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 47 



preparing the cassave (manioc) bread. I bought 
some ; it is very palatable when quite new and hot. 

My steering and paddling exertions had rather 
tired me this morning ; for as Rogers was ailing 
again, the heavy work rested with Ramon and 
myself; but my Indian was an "excellent fellow. I 
stayed for the night at Muitaco, and a host of the- 
mongrel natives came down to the water when we 
brought up. Many of them offered for hire; but 
when they heard that I was bound above the rau- 
dales, they became less eager ; and when I stated 
that I wished for an Indian, they appeared astonished 
at my non-appreciation of their Creole services ; 
however, I could get no Indian from among them. 

14th. — We skirted the hills of the Torno, by 
way of a large lagoon of inky water, and lost a 
whole day by doing so. Sometimes we could with 
difficulty find our way through a maze of bushy 
tree-tops ; at others, we seemed as if gliding across 
fields of young corn (a kind of grass shooting up 
from a considerable depth), over which the pretty 
little Jacoma lightly ran on their great spreading 
toes ; or a thick belt of the curious Ranwana plants 
barred the way. Packs of Perros de Agua (a large 
species of otter), sporting among the submerged 
trees, gave forth their peculiar mewing cry at being 
disturbed by the stroke of our paddles, or suddenly 
lifted their heads and shoulders out of water, in 
order to reconnoitre us, at the same time displaying 
a goodly set of sharp white fangs. I shall not take 
space to relate our difficulties against the sw r ift 



48 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

current among the trunks of the flooded forest, 
through which we eventually gained the main 
stream again, and camped on firm ground at the 
Torno. 

15th. — I passed the Sunday morning in camp, 
as usual. This morning the scene was quite lively. 
Ramon and Rogers were busily engaged in cutting 
up a fine binado (buck) ; I had given the Indian my 
favourite Holland to look up a few ducks for dinner: 
he returned presently to ask for help to bring in the 
buck, which he had killed with a charge of number 
3 shot. He was much surprised, and highly de- 
lighted with the hard, killing qualities of my 
escopete. The Sunday's rest was a great relief. 

16th. — Heavy rains. Slept in the rocks oppo- 
site Isla Inferno. 

17th. — No dry land. Passed the night uncom- 
fortably in the curiam. 

18th. — Passed the night on some large rounded 
slabs of rock at a place called Pena Negra ; much 
rain. 

19th. — Made a good distance this day's paddle, 
and spent the night more comfortably in my 
hammock, slung on the limbs of a tigre tree above 
the water, at the mouth of a creek, or cano, called 
Torno. 

20th. — We reached the neighbourhood of 
Purney. I determined to make another attempt to 
get an Indian here. I had a pleasant walk across 
the savannah, with Ramon as guide, to the jmeblo : 
the clumps of Chapparo give quite a park-like 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 49 



appearance to the country. Ridges of dark, rough 
rock stood out everywhere, and each dip of ground 
was veined by a little rill of clear water with a 
marshy border ; and springing up out of the coarse 
clumpy grass, I noticed pretty, daintily delicate 
little flowers. 

I saw the prefecto, a miserably dirty-looking 
blear-eyed creole, and could obtain from him 
nothing but promises for "manana" (to-morrow). 
No Indians live in the village, their camps being 
away somewhere on the savannah beyond. 

2 1st. — As no Indian was forthcoming, I paddled 
away, having first laid in a good stock of mangoes. 
The fine clumps of these beautiful fruit trees now 
seen growing on the savannahs of Purney, no 
doubt indicate the sites of old Spanish settlements. 
The soil of these savannahs seems especially suited 
to the mangoe, as even the produce of the wild 
trees is of excellent quality. 

The mouth of the Caura was calm as a mill-pond, 
with no current; however, we had hard work to 
round the first point above. 

22nd. — Sunday. — Paddled a short distance, in 
order to find dry footing enough to cook a wild 
turkey for dinner : the day of rest was most accept- 
able. I read over old letters. At night we made 
fast to a bush some way from the bank, to swing 
clear of the mosquitos (zancudos). 

23rd. — There are many good fruits in the bush 
at this season, with which to flavour guarapo, the 
native drink of sugar and water. One tastes like 

E 



50 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

a French prune ; also the hobo plum. The " plop- 
plopping" of the latter is to be heard on the quiet 
waters of nearly every mid-day halt. I slept 
martially on my gun-case, placed across the thwarts 
of the curiara. At sun-rise we had the heaviest 
storm I ever experienced since I camped on Slapping 
creek, Mosquito coast. 

24th. — Wet dawn again ; everything dis- 
tressingly soaked. Wc passed some very difficult 
places, with strong currents, and thorny chinchora 
bushes. Passed Isla Mictica. The day was very 
hot, and the river looked like molten silver. For- 
tunately for my strength, I am able to stand heat 
very well ; but poor Eogers felt it extremely, and, 
as usual, gave out at half-day. The floating trunk 
of an immense catchicamo tree formed our chamber 
for the night. 

25th. — A long paddle ; I was very tired. Passed 
Boccadua Isla. One of the most conspicuous trees 
on this part of the Orinoco is that called by the 
natives Matapalo. Originally, it is a magnificent 
parasite ; but when once it has embraced the trunk 
of a forest tree, it mounts higher and higher, till 
its glowing foliage mingles with, and then tops that 
of its supporter : its supple limbs, now tightly com- 
pressed, flatten out, and gradually spread over the 
whole trunk of its victim, so enclosing it as to 
deprive it of life, and then it stands self-supported, 
a great tree, bearing aloft a dark green dome, which 
casts a grateful shade for a halt in the noon-tide 
heat. It seems to be a vegetable Anagonda. We 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



51 



cooked on a savannah above a little Carib village, 
with an unwritable name. The sand-flies pestered 
us again dreadfully, and I found it almost im- 
possible to scribble a line in peace. After dining, 
we pushed off and tied to a bush for the night. 

26th. — Made a halt to sun the things on the 
savannah; had breakfast, and started afresh. We 
had for the last few days a fair breeze ; to-day 
we put up mast and sail. As we went smoothly 
along, a curious dull sound came from the water. 
Eamon said it was caused by a fish. About the 
middle of the afternoon we rounded the end of 
Isla Tukuagua, a large island. Here the breeze 
deserted us, and we resumed the paddles. We had 
stiff work with them in rounding Punta Bravo, on 
the upper side of which we were glad to make fast. 
No mosquitos, probably owing to the swiftness of 
the current that ran beneath us, when we slung our 
hammocks among the trees. We could find no 
place to boil our tea on, so we had some guarapo 
fuerte (cold grog) instead. 

27th. — We went along before a light breeze, 
and met at sunrise one of the large Apure lanchas, 
her square canvas towering up high enough for a 
brig. The river appeared to have gone down 
about a foot and a half since the 15th. Passed the 
site of the old settlement of Alia Grracia. The 
lancha came up with us, the " marenaros" blowing 
loudly for wind on their horns. Another hard 
paddle in the afternoon. Made fast to a bush to 
sleep, above an island of rock called Bonita. No 



52 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS* 

dry spot to cook on. We had cassave, cheese, and 
grog for supper again. 

28th. — Heavy rain fell before dawn. We lost 
part of a fine breeze in stopping to dry our things 
and cook on a coarse granite rock hard by the 
pueblo of Bonita. After this, we ran past the 
river Yugape, a good-sized stream, on the south 
side. The hills of the Cuchivero rose to view. 
My map was regarded by Ramon, my Indian pilot, 
with great respect, especially when I read there- 
from, and told him of places in his country he little 
thought I had ever heard of. 

We camped on Isla Pahnano, noted for its tigres. 
Ramon did not seem much to relish the situation 
I had chosen, and much less when we saw fresh 
tracks of formidable size on the soft soil. However, 
having charged my gun, I slung my hammock by a 
good fire. Ramon and Rogers retired to the curiara 
to sleep. The pelting noise of the fallen yellow 
hobo plums continued all night, but nothing else 
disturbed my slumbers. 

29th. — To-day another long view of the river 
was stretched before us, meandering away into the 
Apure mouth. I was deeply impressed by the 
immensity of the river system on which we were 
voyaging, as these long reaches, with the rounded 
banks of snowy cumuli, rose above a horizon of 
water. 

We had some caribee for dinner to-day. This 
fish, though generally no larger than a perch, has 
such powerful teeth, that it is really dangerous to 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



53 



the bather in waters where they abound. One 
of them, which I thought dead, actually bit a piece 
clean off the top of my finger as I was in the act 
of spitting him for a grill. 

30th. — After a day's rest we crossed over to the 
north shore, for the first time since quitting the 
neighbourhood of Angostura. No tea again. 

3 1st. — Very heavy squalls of wind from the 
south, accompanied by deluges of rain towards 
morning. The curiara laboured a good deal. I 
was obliged to sit up in my place throughout the 
storm, to fend her off the logs, against which she 
threatened to stave in her sides. Of course I got 
a most complete ducking, notwithstanding which 
I was ready to sink down with sleep. 

After sun-rise the weather cleared. We made 
tea on one of the floating logs, and then proceeded 
on our way before an excellent wind. 

Presently Ramon gave utterance to something 
between a whoop and a grunt, at the same time 
there was a considerable splash in the water for- 
ward. He declared he had seen a cayman steering 
straight for the curiara, as if to take a snap at 
Rogers in the prow. 

In the afternoon the sugar-loaf mountain of 
Caycara was full in sight, rising in an almost 
perfect pyramid on the south shore. I found that 
the large grey and white herons did not take much 
notice of the canoe when sailing rapidly by, at 
which times I got good shots at them. When 
we were paddling, they were much more shy. We 



54 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

halted for the night on a long sand island, covered 
with clumps of the bush so much resembling our 
willow, and full of sedgy pools, literally swarming 
with ducks ; just the cover for them. Our supper 
consisted of a large heron I had shot, two macaws, 
some ducks, and jerked deer-meat. 

September 1st. — We were glad to continue our 
halt to dry our clothing. My mackintoshes were 
nearly worn out, and so torn by the thorny thickets 
through which we often had to force a passage, 
that they were now anything but waterproof. 
Perhaps stout horse-rugs would be better in this 
climate. They would certainly last longer. We 
killed plenty of fat ducks, and soon were able to 
resume our places in the canoes, and started up the 
Guayana side again. It was very hot, and towards 
sundown the sky lowered. As we paddled along 
the mouth of the Cuchivero, I could hear the 
ominous murmur of the approaching storm in the 
forest behind. We made a spurt across, and lay-to 
on the left bank of the stream. Then the storm 
broke in all its fury, — the lightning flashing, the 
thunder rolling, in ponderous volumes of sound, 
from one part of the heavens to the other. I 
weathered this, as I have many others, nose and 
knees together, under my blanket. 

This Eio Cuchivero is occupied by Indians of 
the Panare tribe. Their territory extends to the 
Mato, and other west tributaries of the Caura. We 
managed to get breakfast after paddling to some 
distance. Every day, dry land became more 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 55 

visible, now that the river was subsiding. We 
passed the little grazing village of Taroma, over 
which immense numbers of the Zamora vultures 
were wheeling in concentrated circles, after their 
manner. The bank for a long way this afternoon 
was the abrupt ledge of a savannah rising from the 
water like a wall of large stones roughly put 
together. I shot two fine iguana. 

Rogers gave out, and we made fast to a bush at 
Point Sueno, below Caycara. 

2nd. — We put into shore for cooking purposes : 
there was an abundance of fish, — we caught three 
pyara in a short time; they resemble salmon in 
shape, but have two tusks in the lower jaw, like 
wild hogs. After a calabash bath (for fear of cari- 
bees) under the pleasant shade of an overhanging 
thicket, we paddled up to Caycara. These baths are, 
to use Ramon's expression, "Muy savaroso," after 
the fatigue of a journey: the process consists in 
merely pouring water over the body with a tutuma, 
or calabash. At Caycara we purchased some pa- 
palon (native moulded sugar), rice, cheese, pulpiria, 
&c, as much of the provisions brought from 
Angostura were spoilt, from being constantly wet. 
I had to sacrifice the remainder of my tea from the 
same reason. 

I saw the prefecto on landing. He said he would 
give me a "pan papero" for Urubana, though I 
told him it was unnecessary, as I had a through- 
pass from the Grovernador, He did not seem to 
understand me : possibly he did not like to let slip 



56 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

any opportunity for the display of official dignity. 
We took a dram of rum together, and, as the custom 
there is, drinking the spirit first, and then swallow- 
ing sugar to help it down. During the chat, in 
such cases not to be escaped, my entertainer spoke, 
as these people invariably do, before your face 
(although without exception they call you " Nu- 
rienza" behind your back) most flatteringly of 
" Los Englez y Americanos," and entered on a 
tirade against the Spaniards of Europe. 

3rd. — Under weigh again : we were off Cabenta 
at mid-day. We fished for dinner, and took a fine 
sardinato, which is a herring in shape and a salmon 
in size, of tempting fatness. Towards evening we 
passed a high sand-cliff, perfectly riddled with the 
nesting holes of the large red-breasted kingfisher. 
The chatter of these birds is like the springing of a 
policeman's rattle, and they vociferously protested 
against our intrusion on their domestic privacy. 
We rounded a promontory called Capuchin, which 
reminded me of Mount Edgecumbe park from some 
points ; but the spaces between the outcropping rocks 
were much greener, and the trees had a wilder and 
more eccentric growth. 

We camped on a rock for the night. Close by 
an immense flock of snowy egrets roosted. They 
were very noisy, as the sun went down in a glorious 
sky. It may seem odd to the reader, the satisfaction 
I had in exchanging the following few words with 
Ramon, after the day's paddle: 6i Bast ante lejo, 
Ramon ?" 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 57 



To which he would answer, in a tone which an 
Indian alone uses, " Lego !" 

We were driven from the camp by the zan- 
cudos. The gnats, or true mosquitos, are called 
in Venezuela zancudos, whilst those venomous 
atoms, sand-flies, are called mosquitos. 

4th. — Our next mid-day halt was opposite the 
mouth of the Apure. I shot some powis, and then 
had a nap on the rocks. In the morning we had 
passed along a low muddy shore, much frequented 
by cayman, then posted on to a hill of big stones 
heaped one on another, with bushy trees and bright 
green grass growing in the interstices between : 
this was the hill Curiquima. We moored the 
curiara in the cleft of two large rocks, which formed 
a natural dock for our little craft, and on the 
summits we spread our blankets. The zancudos 
were more endurable than before. 

5th. — The Orinoco has in the dry season im- 
mense beaches of sand extending from the forest ; 
now, the water reached the trees, and partly inun- 
dated the banks. It is wonderful to what a degree 
the Orinoco preserves its breadth throughout its 
course, to within the immediate proximity of the 
cataracts ; even here it has a breadth of four or five 
miles. I had some difficulty in writing my notes 
on account of the irritation produced by the sand- 
flies (mosquitos) ; indeed, I considered them to be 
the primary cause of a touch of fever I felt in the 
afternoon. The zamora vultures were very nu- 
merous and obtrusive on this part of the river 



58 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



when one is unwell, it is especially unpleasant to 
have a mob of these disgusting birds fluttering and 
croaking disagreeably in the trees you select for 
shelter and rest : sometimes I grew irate, and could 
not help sending a bullet from my Snider at one 
more intolerably impertinent than the others. If a 
bird was struck whilst walking on the ground, he 
appeared simply to lie down suddenly on his side ; 
there was no kicking : the ball drilled a hole through 
the body, and continued its way. 

It was singular that my Indian, Ramon, could 
not hit anything with the rifle, though I never knew 
him miss a shot with my double-barrel Holland gun. 

It would require the inimitable facility of Ernest 
Griset's pencil to do justice to the grotesqueness, 
half weird, of a group of zamoras, when skulking 
about a camp, dodging behind stones and bushes, or 
peering down from the boughs over-head. I was 
informed that their chief breeding-places within 
Venezuela were among the spurs of the Andes, in- 
tersecting the province of Coro. Here they are said 
to render some localities quite unendurable by their 
odour. The young are downy -white. 

6th. — A fair breeze. I was glad of the chance 
to give the steering paddle to Ramon, and to creep 
under the shade of the sail, as the calentura was on 
me again: the morning was very hot. After the 
breeze died away we landed to get something warm 
to drink, and found a very damp forest for our 
fire. The summit of the Serra was behind us (we 
had passed it on the foregoing day) ; irregular masses 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 59 

of rock crown it in some directions : it looked like 
an ancient fortress, overgrown with trees to such 
an extent that the line of the building was hidden. 
1 gave orders to make fast to a bush in mid-stream 
(apparently rather against Ramon's wish), to be 
clear of the zancudos for the night, and was aroused 
just as I had subsided into a slumber on my gun- 
case, by the curiara filling with water from a 
sudden squall : we were very nearly swamped, and 
I expected every second to feel the canoe go down 
under me. The night, to add to our ill-luck, was 
pitchy dark, and I could only discern Ramon and 
Rogers by the rapid flashes of vivid lightning. 
Ramon looked really terrified, and was yelling 
out something, which of course I could not dis- 
tinguish in the din of the tempest. We all baled 
away, working with a will, to keep afloat: in the 
mean time, I was turning it over in my mind which 
would be the nearest way to the shore, in the event 
of our having to swim for it. At length we drifted 
down to some bushes on a flooded island, where 
we braved it out. I never knew a thunder-storm 
to remain so long directly over-head. 

7th. — It continued to rain wretchedly for the 
greater part of the day, but we reached a conuco 
(or clearing), where I determined to stop and make 
an endeavour to get dry clothing to lie down in. 
Everything in the curiara was drenched; the 
mackintosh worn out ; and I was afraid lest all our 
provisions should spoil that we had in store for 
the journey, for the way was yet long. 



60 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

8th. — My calentura was much better in the 
morning; the conuco people had made me a hot 
decoction of a plant called frigosa. The men did 
not seem at first very charmed to greet me, but 
after a little rum was distributed, and some caratero 
ducks cooked, their hearts were opened, and, re- 
laxing, they became very obliging. I was regaled 
with a most refreshing draught of freshly crushed 
sugar-cane juice. A " bianco" Spaniard arrived, 
bound for the Cabullare, and an old Indian, who 
took great interest in my pulse, and wanted to take 
me home with him to be doctored by his women 
for a few days; but at evening I felt all right 
again, with the exception of a slight giddiness, 
though in the afternoon I had had a bout of ague 
and fever. 

9th. — Feeling much better in the morning, I 
made a start, calling on my sympathizing old 
friend as I passed his place ; he again pressed me 
to remain, but as it was unnecessary, I refused, 
desiring to push on for Urubana. I took as deep 
a draught as I could of cane-juice before leaving 
him. In spite of the " plaga," as they call the pest 
of mosquitos and zancudos, there are many conucos 
on this part of the right bank : they are principally 
of cane, and the most juicy I have seen. 

Towards noon, as I felt the fever coming on 
again, I left the paddle, and went on shore to lie 
down where it was shady; but becoming worse, 
I thought it advisable to return overland to the 
clearing last passed. Whilst Ramon brought the 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 61 

canoe, I managed to control my legs just long 
enough to stumble into the rancho, where there 
were two pretty Spanish-looking girls. I did not 
remember anything more until the fever lessened, 
and I drank some frigosa the girls had prepared. 

10th. — I had a good night, and was, as usual, 
better in the morning. There was not much river- 
view here, as it was divided by a very long island, 
Isla Cieba, on the other shore, where a tribe of 
" Indios bravos" (Tortugas) are said to live. 

Ramon generally brought in plenty of panji or 
caratero ducks; but I was always obliged to give 
him a limited number of cartridges, as he could 
not resist the temptation of firing away all he had 
in his pouch. 

The fever returned at the same period of each 
day ; I drank hot drinks when shivering, and cold, 
as soon as the skin moistened. When I was better 
I took my seat in the curiara, and dropped down 
to the larger conuco of my old friend. The night 
threatened rain, so I thought it imperative to 
attempt a push for Urubana; besides, I was con- 
siderably reduced in strength, and could not, there- 
fore, paddle strongly, 

14th. — This day passed without an attack, and I 
felt nearly well, thanks to the unremitting attention 
of my kind old Indian friend, whose name was 
Cumane. Indeed, he only seemed anxious that I 
should stay with him longer, and expatiated on the 
richness of the soil of his conuco, the plenty of 
manatee, and other game. He said he was old, and 



62 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

gently hinted that he had saved much silver (vas- 
tante reals). I think he imagined that probably a 
young fellow like myself might take a fancy to one 
of his numerous women-folk, and so stay with him 
altogether. One night Ramon awakened, me, saying 
that a lancha of the Rio Negro was passing: I 
jumped up and hailed the patron, but he declared 
there was no room on board. It was a large lancha, 
containing a good palm-thatched toldo, and was 
creeping up stream under the strain of twelve blades. 
I secured an Indian from it, who proved to be 
a cousin of Ramon's. 

We fared sumptuously at our present quarters ; 
in the meat line, besides fish and turtle, a manatee 
was harpooned. I had seen none of the latter on 
this river until then. Those familiar with this 
animal must, I think, pronounce manatee to be the 
most superlatively delicate and richest of meats. 
The best description of the great beast of the river 
is to compare it to a hippopotamus with flippers 
instead of legs, and a broad tail placed horizontally 
on the body. 

15th. — I was thankful to feel all right this 
morning; so, saying "Adeos" to Cumane, I took 
my station in the curiam, and pushed once more 
away up stream. We passed Cano Civiripe, noted 
for the number of manatee taken there. We halted 
just below Tortuga, for cooking. In the dry season, 
this is one of the places at which the Indians as- 
semble to collect turtle eggs, from which they make 
oil. There was a grand storm at sundown, but it 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



63 



dispersed before our dinner-time. As it was fine 
moonlight, I resumed my steering canalite, and we 
kept on all niglit. 

16th.* — A short sail in the afternoon; a long 
stretch of the forest on the bank was composed 
mainly of a small tree with a smooth bark and per- 
pendicular limbs. Travelling in this way, although 
hardships appear in hosts, excitement stimulates 
every power of endurance, and if ammunition is 
plentiful, the physical man is well provided for, as 
meat offers itself to the sportsman in abundance; 
and what would be anywhere considered the greatest 
delicacies, are to be obtained merely for the trouble 
of sending a shot with a steady aim. 

I saw for the first time the curious creature called 
mata-mata, which approximates to the turtle in for- 
mation ; but the shell is much more rugged, and the 
head larger, flattened, and covered with toad-like 
skin. The Indians insist on its being more savoury 
than the turtle proper ; we only took the eggs from 
the one we caught, as it was old and meagre. It 
seems a simple, harmless animal, relying chiefly on 
the great strength of its shell for protection from 
numerous enemies. The Indian had no difficulty 
in lifting ours into the canoe from under the bank, 
where it apparently slumbered ; the shell was in- 
dented by the teeth of caymans. 

Aranca to the right ; a fine panorama lay before 
us, the Serra of Urubana deep blue against the sky, 
and the hills of the Baraguan Straits beyond. We 
spent the night on the beautiful sandy shore, some 



64 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, 

distance below the pueblo, after having cooked on 
the bank of the savannah. 

17th. — Urubana was originally a mission pueblo 
of the Ottomac Indians, no descendants of whom are 
now to be traced about the neighbourhood: some of 
the tribe are still on the other side of the river. The 
prefecto was a Spaniard of the higher class, and 
showed much gentlemanly kindness of demeanour. 
The pueblo is situated at the foot of a nearly per- 
pendicular hill of rocks, overgrown by trees. Several 
of the rocks are said to bear inscriptions, but I had 
no time to examine them. I found the Rio Negro 
lancha here, and, as it belonged to Castro, the 
Governador of the country beyond the cataracts, I 
arranged with the patron to carry myself and effects 
past the raudales. Although slower, this was safer, 
and, above all, a drier mode of proceeding than in 
my little lancha to the required destination. 



65 



CHAPTER V. 

September 18th. — We left Urubana in the 
evening, and pushed up stream with the combined 
force of twelve Indian rowers. I despatched Ramon 
ahead with the curiara. 

Above, the Orinoco was much divided by islands. 
Towards mid-day we had a fine breeze, and passed 
the hill of rocks called Jovito, which has an enormous 
slab of bare black rock facing the river. It was a 
most beautiful night. The Indians, after supping 
off monkeys, kept on, leaving the Baraguan hills 
behind. I now travelled much more at ease, and 
was able to enjoy the scenery. The top of the palm- 
thatched toldo makes an agreeable lounge. The 
shore continued to be alternate savannah and low 
scrubby forest. After passing Juapure, the banks 
rose to high-water level, and the woods improved. 

20th. — This morning we saw an encampment 
of Indians of the Paruro tribe, on a sandy spit, 
in the midst of the river. At noon we crossed to 
the left bank, which is high, and covered by a long 
line of plantations, called Santa Barbara : the curious 
cliffs of Serra Pararuma appeared on one side, and 
those of Baraguan on the other. We formed quite 

F 



66 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

an imposing force in camp : twenty -four, besides 
several women who inhabited the interior of the 
toldo. After dark we continued on past the island 
of Pararuma, which is famous for the immense 
number of turtles "that here do congregate" in the 
dry season, to deposit their eggs, from which the 
natives obtain a large quantity of oil. 

The effect produced by the wild cry of the 
Indians, uttered from time to time as they laboured, 
was in singular harmony with the night. It was 
not unlike the opening notes of some fine, deep- 
toned hymn ; but just as one might fancy it swelling 
into complete grandeur, it died away abruptly. 
However, this vocal exercise seemed to have a great 
effect in stimulating the poor fellows to their mono- 
tonous work at the sweeps. 

22nd. — Pararuma and Cano Paraguase were 
now left behind. Had it not been for my gun, we 
should have been quite on fish fare, as no provisions 
were to be had; though several times the lancha 
stopped to get communication with the plantations 
below. 

23rd. — A very wet evening; but in the night 
it cleared ; so we left the sheltering, but close toldo, 
and had a good supper off some powis Eamon had 
brought in. We took one meal on the great rounded 
rocks at the foot of the Caribin raudales, and had 
our mid-day refection ojDposite the Cassanare (not 
to be confounded with the Caniguiare of the Rio 
Negro and the Orinoco). 

On the top of the large domed rock on which 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 67 

the men were cooking, a great grassy plain was to 
be seen hazily stretching away towards the long 
range of hills, which -ultimately, when they cross 
the bed of the river, occasion the cataracts of 
Atmes. Myriads of fire-flies sparkled like gems 
low over the surface, seeming to give an undulating 
motion to the misty plain. The great river Meta 
falls into the Orinoco on the left shore. The wide 
plains in the vicinity of this river are inhabited by 
the dreaded Gruahibos, who appear to be perfect 
Ishmaelites, whose hand is against every man. 
These bravos seemed to be considerably feared 
by the mansos (tame Indians) and Creoles. Little 
else but Quahibos's deeds had been talked of for the 
last few days. These savages possess no canoes, 
and when they desire to cross a stream, they are 
said to construct a temporary conveyance for the 
purpose, of manriche palm leaves. 

24th. — Passing the rocks of San Borja, we came 
into view of the mountainous country of the Piaroa 
Indians ; like all the old missions of the Upper 
Orinoco, that of San Borjo has long been aban- 
doned, and the Indians have returned to the moun- 
tains and forests. 

25th. — We caught a plentiful supply of a very 
delicate fish, palometa, for which the lines were 
baited with a bright kind of beetle, and cast in 
quiet waters among bushes. I always sent Ramon 
forward to look out for game, as even our stock of 
manioc had given out. The Zamora vultures were 
particularly troublesome at this halt. An Indian 



68 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

caught one with a baited fish-hook ; plucking out 
two of the long tail feathers, he stuck them through 
the nostril cavities of the beak, so as to form a pair 
of ferocious mustaches. Released with a kick, the 
unfortunate bird of course endeavoured to rejoin 
the mob of his companions, which had been gravely 
looking on; but the more he tried to do so, the 
more they edged away from him, and at last took 
themselves off altogether. 

26th. — The afternoon was spent in wending 
our way up a narrow arm of the river, betwixt 
forests. 

27th. — A full view of the Atures Hills. Last 
night we slept within sound of the Great Cataracts, 
and at daylight the Indians began to strip the 
lancha of everything for the long portage of some 
three miles to the pueblo, preparatory to the labour 
of warping her up the raudales. These men all 
spoke Spanish, but conversed in their own Baniva 
among themselves. This is the tongue generally 
understood by the Indians of the Guainia or Rio 
Negro de Venezuela, and the Atabapo. 

Later in the day I crossed to the pueblo, partly 
by water, and then over the savannah and Carlo 
Cataniapo, by means of a ricketty canoe, kept for 
that purpose, moored to the bushes of the bank. 
The Indians have here, as elsewhere, a strong pro- 
pensity for always keeping to the old track during 
their journeys. In the path to the pueblo the track 
was worn smooth, and well defined across the 
masses of rock in the portage round the cataracts. 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 69 

How very ancient it must have been ! Probably the 
Carib war-parties of long ago followed precisely the 
same tracks over these foot-worn rocks, in their 
expeditions from the Lower to the Upper Orinoco. 
The pueblo of Atures is situate on a high savannah, 
between the little river Cataniapo and the cataracts. 
In spite of a beautiful site, there hangs about the 
place an unpleasant air of mortality, perhaps from 
the association of its name of an extinct race, 
whose sepulchre is not far off. The four remaining 
inhabited houses are placed at irregular intervals 
round the grass-grown square; the intervening 
spaces indicating where others once stood. Nothing 
now is left of the old mission, save two copper bells, 
bearing the date 1740. The general appearance 
of decay was not diminished by the appearance 
of the house allotted to me : one side had fallen, 
and the rafters projecting against the sky had a 
very skeleton-like look, as the moon rose from 
behind. 

The surrounding savannahs much resemble those 
of the Caura, but are of a more uneven surface, 
and more enclosed by rocky hills. These were 
eminently suited for cattle; but the few herds 
formerly possessed by the inhabitants have been 
killed off by an obnoxious species of fly. The poor 
natives of the village have the aspects of London 
sweeps, owing to their faces being covered with 
black spots, that are left after the attacks of the 
mosquitos (sand-flies). 

The Cataniapo is a deep, rapid stream, of most 



70 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

beautiful sea-green water. It is a delightful spot 
for bathing, as it is cool and limpid, and free from 
the dangerous fish and reptiles infesting the Orinoco. 
Once out of water, however, one has quickly to 
jump into one's clothes to escape the swarms of 
mosquitos. The source " of the Cataniapo is in the 
mountain-country of the Piaroa ; it falls into the 
turbid Orinoco in the middle raudales of Atures. 
At night the roar of waters is very loud in the 
pueblo, though it is scarcely audible during the 
day. This change must be caused by the ceasing 
of the sounds of life, which pass unnoticed in the 
hours when every one is busy. But when night 
silences vociferous humanity, the voice of nature is 
heard plainly. When the sun sinks below the 
horizon, the chorus of the waters swells into 
majestic music. The Indians say the raudales sleep 
during the day. 

At Atures, I saw the curious bearded monkey, 
with hair like that of a negro when carefully parted 
and brushed down the centre. The natives call 
these creatures Capuchins. 

I met Senor Castro, who held sway as Gover- 
nador of the country above the cataract claimed 
by Venezuela. He was waiting for his lancha, and 
received me very well, insisting upon my making 
use of his own mosquitero, or mosquito curtains, 
as mine were in the canoe with Ramon and Eogers, 
who had not yet come up. The Governador's rum 
flowed freely, and the wretched people of the place 
Were soon in a deplorable condition ; the time was 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 71 

spent in singing drunken songs, improvised in a 
cracked falsetto, in honour of the donor. 

October 2nd. — I traversed the savannah to the 
hill of rock, where is the campo sctnto of the 
extinct race, the Atures. Part of the savannah 
was marked by old cattle tracts, showing where the 
kine of the old padres had been wont to pass. 
Ramon (who had arrived with Rogers), told 
me that there were " vaca" (cattle) still on the 
mountain around, but that they were very fierce, 
and only approached the open country at 
night. 

I found the Atures' s burial-place to be a hori- 
zontal cleft in the sloping side of a hill of rough 
granite, under the shelving ledge of rock, where 
was to be seen all that remained of the tribe. The 
bones of those uppermost had been a good deal 
scattered (though originally coffined in a sort of 
mapiri, or basket), the rough flakes of rock under 
which they had lain having been partly removed. 
Some ghastly relics still were intact in Mapiris 
of cocoso palm-leaf, in which they had been 
embalmed. Many of the bones (those, perhaps, once 
reposing in the large urns) were still stained with 
a red pigment, and fragments of the broken urns 
were strewn about. I was surprised to see the 
bleached skull of a horse mingling with the human 
remains. Might not this animal have been thus 
honoured with interment in their sepulchre by the 
old Atures, from feelings of awe and veneration 
for the first of these quadrupeds seen in their 



72 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



country, possibly introduced thither by an adven- 
turous Castilian ? 

Whilst I gazed into the tomb, a beautiful little 
humming-bird flitted by, and hovered over the white 
bed of bones. The view from the slope of rock in 
front of the sepulchre was most striking: — the 
windings of the Orinoco, until lost finally in the 
mountains ; the great mountain Urubana scarcely 
reared its crest above the heavy vapours concealing 
the lands of the Gruahibo bravos. On the other hand 
stretched the savannah of Atures, its rocky surface 
hidden under green grasses, with belts of the stately 
manriche palm, or clumps of Chapparo trees and 
bushes in every hollow where a sufficient soil had 
accumulated, and beyond the mountains of the 
Piaroa Indians. Ramon said that these Piaroa 
were at feud with the dreaded Gruahibos. The 
situation is singularly well chosen. When I stood 
there, with the great rock-sepulchre behind me, I 
could picture vividly how the procession of the 
Indians bringing their dead for burial, must have 
approached and passed up the inclined plane of 
granite-rock in front. 

On the Atures savannahs I noticed many pretty 
birds ; one peculiarly so, seemed to combine in its 
habits those of a lark, a thrush, and a rail. 

3rd. — We left the beautiful, but insalubrious 
savannahs of Atures, which are rendered almost un- 
inhabitable by the league of mosquitos (sand-flies) 
and zancudors. That night we left the loftiest of 
the surrounding mountains, Uriana, away on the left 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 73 

bank, and Serra Luripana, with its sepulchre, a short 
distance from the right. Many of the Gruayana 
tribes still lay their dead among rocks, after the 
manner of the old Atures. 

With comparative ease the lancha was wafted 
up the little raudales of Garcita and other small 
falls. Here the rocks do not bar the whole river, as 
do the stupendous masses of Atures and Maypures. 
There were many balsam capivi trees on the banks, 
but they bore the marks of tappings. In the vicinity 
of the great cataracts the sky is almost always over- 
cast the year round, and in the driest season it rains 
there every day. 

In the mountainous country beyond the savan- 
nahs there are two kinds of deer, the one small, but 
the other large, with branching antlers. The lancha 
rounded the hill-island, and lay -to at the puerto of 
the path leading to the pueblo of Maypures. The 
night was most serenely beautiful ; but the patron 
somewhat spoilt the effect of the imposing roar of 
the raudales by screeching some Venezuelan ditty 
in a shrill falsetto. It is singular that these people 
endeavour to render their voices as ridiculously 
effeminate as possible whenever they attempt to 
sing ! 

Hearing that vanrpire-bats were very numerous, 
I took the precaution of covering my feet when I 
slept. In the afternoon I walked with Senor Castro 
across a savannah resembling that of Atures, but 
even more lovely, though it was infested with sand- 
flies. The savannah streams of this district are 



74 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

beautiful. We passed over one on a bridge of felled 
trees : it had a spring of capital water welling up 
from a funnel-shaped cone of white sand at the 
bottom. 

There were in the pueblo only four or five men 
of the same mixed class as those of Atures, chiefly 
from the Cassanare district, I believe. The Indians 
of the Maypure race had long emigrated in a body 
for some less plagued region at the head of the 
Guainia — at least, so the Indian patron asserted. 
The Piaroa stay in their altitudes, and only descend 
to the savannahs of the troubled bed of the river to 
fish and to procure a few necessaries. In manners 
they are very mild. They possess fine conucos, or 
plantations of cassave (manioc). The indifferently - 
cured tobacco used by the people is of their own 
cultivation. The native Indians have also retired 
far off, and there are a few mansos Guahibos on the 
left bank. The patron assured me that the Macos 
of the upper Orinoco are a distinct nation to the 
Piaroa, and speak another language. The scenery 
in the neighbourhood of the two great raudales, or 
cataracts, is the most varied and beautiful I have 
anywhere seen. There are the open savannahs, 
here and there broken up with those magnificent 
masses of rock which give this portion of the Orinoco 
so marked a character, contrasted with the level 
belts of the primeval woods which border the river, 
and the slopes of the hills and mountains that are 
not sheer rocks. The Orinoco itself winds away in 
the noblest proportions, and is studded with rocky 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 75 

islands and islets of every shape and aspect. These 
are rendered gem-like by tufts of palms and other 
vegetation, fostered by the exhalations from the 
warm ? foaming waters of the cataracts. Their vast 
extent and variety is one of the chief charms of these 
raudales; there is no abruptly high fall, but they 
are formed by steps or terraces of black rock crossing 
the river's bed, over and between which tumble 
great masses of snowy foam, with an incessant roar. 
Between these saltos there are reaches where the 
river flows in quiet depth, and is so shut in by rocks 
and islands, that nothing but the never-dying voice 
of the waters indicates that the canoe is still within 
the raudales. One evenly-drawn line on the water- 
worn boulders shows the rise and fall of the tide. 
As a general distinction between the two cataracts, 
it may be said that the slope causing that of Atures 
is the longest, and that of Maypures the most abrupt. 

The Indians believe that some of the saltos are 
more easily passed in the dry season, while others 
are less difficult when the river is deepest. I was 
introduced to the padre of San Fernando de Ata- 
bapo, at one of the houses of the pueblo of Maypures. 
In addition to his spiritual calling, he is one of the 
most active traders of the country beyond the rau- 
dales. He descends to Angostura annually in his 
lancha, with his rubber, balsam, and cassave, re- 
turning with a fresh supply of commodities of trade. 
This energetic priest is, I believe, a Genoese by 
birth, and entered this part of the world by way of 
the Rio Negro, coming down Rio Madeira from the i 



76 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



Republic of Bolivia. When I first saw him he was 
sitting in one of the chinchoras (hammocks) of the 
house, where he looked odd in his monk's habit. 
Afterwards I knew a good deal of him at Maroa, 
and found him, on better acquaintance, to be a 
pleasant old fellow, and not an excessive dogmatist. 

Nothing was to be had from the slothful people 
of this miserable pueblo but a little poorly-made 
cassave. Drunken carousals continued without 
intermission (El Governador being chief instigator): 
the noise and annoyance was most disgusting to 
a person who- was obliged to be an involuntary 
spectator. Castro at length reduced himself to 
such a pitch of nervous excitement, approaching 
to phrenzy, that I thought it advisable to give 
him an oj)iate, which had the desired effect. Our 
fare here was a little fish with cassave, about once 
in the day ; this, added to the distressing irritation 
of sand-flies by day and zancudos by night, made 
the place unendurable. Castro, being recovered, 
made a start for his own pueblo, and I accompanied 
him. Wishing, however, to make a forced march, 
El Governador plied his men with so much rum 
that the consequence was, after we passed Punta 
Raton, and were near Rio Vichada, it was dis- 
covered that we were making little progress, as 
three paddles had been lost during the night. The 
head of the curiara was accordingly ordered about 
for Maypures again. To my suggestion, that it 
was better to keep on now, than to lose so much 
ground, Castro replied that the governor of the. 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 77 



country could not possibly appear at San Fernando 
in such a plight, with a friend. 

Very fine view from the top of a rock sloping 
up the savannah where we halted. A broad belt 
of tall manriche palms looked like a stately avenue 
leading to the two hills of Maypures. I could not 
help thinking that if the comparatively insignificant 
palms of the East suggested to the ancient Greeks 
their beautiful columns and capitals, what if they 
had seen some of the same trees in the tropical 
West! . 

We attempted a fresh start at sundown, but it 
came to naught ; for the men, not having been 
able to satisfy their hunger enough in the curiara, 
remained too long in the pueblo when summoned. 
I was sorry to see Castro bend his bright toledo 
in thrashing the first offender that appeared. Several 
of the others took to their heels, and were not after- 
wards forthcoming at all. 

On the banks of the Orinoco, above Maypures, 
the palms most noticeable are the zagua wine palm, 
and the cacarito, as is the coroso, lower down in 
the islands of the raudales. The Macanilla, a 
thorny palm, here attains great height, and the 
graceful manac again becomes plentiful: the latter 
has a wide range. I saw it at the delta of the 
Orinoco on the Upper Caura, but on the Upper 
Orinoco it tapers to the greatest height; on the 
Amazon it is called the assai. The zagua is, indeed, 
beautiful at all times, but the more so when some 
point in the river enables it to rear its stately fronds 



78 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

above the lower woods, thus obtaining an azure 
field for the display of its serrated leaves, drooping 
over towards the outer side. It resembles the cocoa 
palm, but the leaves shoot out from the stem, edge 
upwards, and this peculiarity gives them a more 
graceful curve. I neglected the opportunity of 
measuring the leaves of this palm, but they appeared 
of enormous size. 

This morning we met a Piaroa curiara. As it 
had cassave on board, our canoe immediately put 
alongside, and the two men (and the cassave) were 
pressed for San Fernando. Although evidently 
unwilling, the good-looking matron was left to 
paddle the curiara home, with the youngsters, goods 
and chattels, all their little plans upset for that day. 
It is a wonder that these simple people do not even 
more seclude themselves in their mountain forests, 
as this liability to forced service must be very 
distasteful to them. 

We put on shore in the morning to cook, and 
when it was time to start, the two Piaroa had made 
themselves scarce. No one had seen them go, but 
they were nowhere to be found. 

The woods greatly improved in appearance as 
we went on. At noon we were opposite the mouth 
of the Vichada, which is occupied by Gruahibos, 
who, less warlike than those of the race lower down, 
have plantations on its banks. The Gruahibos I 
afterwards met with at San Fernando were taller 
in person, and much bolder in bearing, than the 
Piaroa. The heat was considerable, and was fol- 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 79 



lowed by a heavy storm towards sundown. We 
next reached the Zama, famous even here for mos- 
quitoes (sand-flies). It is the first of the system of 
Aguas Negras, black- water rivers, rising westward 
of the Upper Orinoco. Owing to the high forest 
we were skirting, we saw nothing of the eastern 
mountains since we left the neighbourhood of 
Maypures. 

The Governador Castro was an excitable casador 
(hunter). We went on shore, but shot nothing save 
pava, a kind of game, differing from the panji in 
smallness of size ; the plumage, unlike the guacha- 
raca of the lower river, is mostly black, with a white 
crest. I saw no more of the pretty little grey finches 
with crimson heads, so common on the banks of the 
Orinoco lower down. Instead of that species, there 
was a little grey or drab fellow, which flitted from 
bush to bush for long distances before the canal. 

There had been no general sleeping since we left 
Maypures : this was the fourth wakeful night for 
some of the men, and, despite their efforts to the 
contrary, slumber would, from time to time, over- 
take them. The Grovernador gave them freely of a 
demijohn of Malaga he had with him ; and it was 
impossible to refrain from laughing, as one or other 
of the dark mariners would drop into a somnambu- 
listic state, in which they kept time to the chanting 
marvellously with their paddles, although the stroke 
might be taken in air, and wide of the water. One 
of the number, who was quite as sleepy, and a little 
more drunk than the rest, again lost his paddle; 



80 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

looking round with a stupid grin, for a moment he 
seized that of his nearest neighbour, and went on as 
before. All was quiet for a few strokes, when it 
seemed to occur to the original owner of the paddle 
that he was lax in his duty, so after a scrimmage he 
got it back ; the odd man gradually subsiding under 
the thwarts of the canoe. 

October 9th. — At daylight this morning we dis- 
covered a surface of deep coffee-coloured water, even 
darker than the Caura, and the numerous cocoa- 
palms that rise above the thatched houses of San 
Fernando de Atabapo. Senor el Grovernador re- 
ceived me most kindly at his house, and installed 
me in an empty one next door. Amongst his friends 
there was a most enterprising young Venezuelano 
Spaniard, Andreas Level, who told me much that 
was interesting concerning the unknown regions 
lying between the upper affluents of the Orinoco ; 
boasted of having gone three days beyond the sup- 
posed impassable raudales of the Maguaca ; and said 
that he had seen cut into the side of a rock an in- 
scription: " Raudales de los Guaharibos." He de- 
scribed these Indians as being as white as myself, 
but with red hair. It is strange how these reports 
coincided with those of the Blanco Guatusos of Rio 
Frio, in Nicaragua, and other parts of Central 
America. He was much aided in his expeditions 
by the Arquiri, and had esjooused the daughter of 
one of the chief men among these Indians ; so, in 
consequence, he enjoyed nearly a monopoly of their 
good offices, with the produce of their country, con- 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 81 

sisting mainly of balsam capivi, also finely made 
chinchoras (hammocks), and other articles that 
obtain a ready sale at Angostura. 

The inhabitants of San Fernando, with the usual 
improvidence of the Spanish Creoles, rely chiefly on 
these Marquiritare, and the Poy naves of the Quirida, 
for their supply of the bread-stuff, manioco, for they 
have not a single plantation near the village. Cacao 
of delicious flavour grows wild on the bank of the 
Gruaviare opposite, yet the people are too lazy to 
secure more than small quantities for their own use, 
although their regular avocation appears to be 
visiting from house to house, chatting throughout 
the day. The doors and windows of the domicile I 
occupied were riddled in various places by bullet- 
holes, — intimating that even here, in the Ravo de 
Venezuela (the Tail of the Country, as they are fond 
of calling the Rio Negro district), there appear to 
have been the emeutes, faction fights, common to 
these republics. San Fernando is one of the very 
few villages, originally Indian missions, which has 
since grown in size and population. It probably 
owes this exemption from decay to its admirable 
position near the junction of four large rivers, — the 
Guaviare, Quirida, Atabapo, and Orinoco. The 
climate is very heavy and close, from a want of 
breeze; but when the sky is overcast, and one of 
the frequent torrents of rain falls, I have shivered 
under my blanket, from the sudden alteration in the 
atmosphere. Coco-palms (the palm of the sea-shore) 
abound, though far from the salt sea spray in which 

G 



82 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

they delight; they seem to be very healthy, and 
have quite usurped the place of the pijila, few of 
which are visible about the village houses. A tree 
here has a very curious growth, with a stem like the 
palm ; its leaves only cluster in a mop-like head at 
the top. 

The heavy atmosphere and fish diet of San Fer- 
nando reduced me soon to a state of debility, which 
was not exactly illness, but it made me long to be 
once again in my little curiara on the broad breezy 
river, where I should, with the assistance of my 
gun, be able to procure, and enjoy in my camps, a 
simmering pot of panji. Anything rather than this 
" fish, fish, fish " of the villages ! 

My original intention had been to gain the Rio 
Negro by the route of the Atabapo and the Pissu- 
chin portage ; but as my funds were getting uncom- 
fortably low, I determined to recruit them somewhat 
ere attempting a descent into Brazil. In prosecution 
of this scheme, I got two Indian peons, and two 
boys from the Grovernador, to search the banks of 
the Orinoco, between the old missions of Santa 
Barbara and Esmeralda, for ciringa, or india-rubber 
(Siphonia elastica). At San Fernando I noticed 
many pretty little birds which I had not seen lower 
down ; among others, a very lively, handsome finch, 
of a deep rich russet colour, that was black against 
the sky. Sky-blue finches, common at Angostura 
and Para, were flitting about here in the orange 
trees and guava bushes. 



83 



CHAPTER VI. 

October 24th. — Ramon and I started this 
morning in my old curiam, by moonlight, for a 
preliminary exploration of the forests of the 
Upper Orinoco. The air was heavy with the odour 
of the flowers of the water-loving gica tree, when 
the sun rose over a rolling bank of mist. We 
travelled half the day, and the Serra Sipapo came 
into view from our halt on the left bank, on a shady 
point of dry forest. These mountains have a very 
fantastic outline, and are said to be a continuation 
of the hills of the cataracts. We caught a sufficiency 
of fish, but were much pestered by a miniature 
kind of stingless bee, which swarmed on any 
exposed skin, evidently intent upon lapping and 
extracting the salt from it. 

26th. — Finding plenty of panji, we camped on 
a shady island. 

28th. — Above the junction of the Guaviare, the 
Orinoco diminishes perceptibly in breadth; the 
banks are generally lower towards each point where 
the river bends, and afford well-sheltered camping- 
grounds. I think nothing strikes the novice in the 
South American forest foliage so much as the re- 
petition of tongue-shaped leaves, more or less varied 



8-1 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



and modified. As a rule, with the larger forest 
trees, the foliage is rather scanty, as if nature here 
made provision for the immensity and variety of 
the creeping plants and parasites. 

3 1st. — Passed half the day in the curiara; 
there were several rather bad runs above the old 
mission of Santa Barbara. 

Nothing now remains of the mission, situate, in 
times past, on the border of a fine savannah, than 
a wooden cross, and the posts of some houses over- 
grown with guava bushes. We looked in vain for 
orange trees amongst the thick scrub ; so embarked 
again, and camped above the Guachiriu rocks. A 
great many sand-flies; from below the rapids of 
Santa Barbara to the mouth of the Guaviare, there 
are very few. 

November 1st. — We passed up a bend in the 
river, much blocked by islets : on the right bank is 
the delta of the large Rio Ventuare. Later, we left 
the main stream, and followed the windings of a 
lagoon of very clear, though dark water, in search 
of something to eat with our manioco. Gazing 
down through the clear coffee-brown water, it was 
curious to see the submerged foliage of the trees, 
branches, flowers, and fruit, waving about in the 
current ; shoals of lively little fish occupying places 
usually assigned to birds. After losing many hooks 
by the caribee's teeth, I caught several good-sized 
specimens for our larder, and Ramon shot a powis. 
Often when I was shooting ducks in the forest, I 
have lost them provokingly, from their falling into 



a Journey Through the wilderness. 85 

the water, and being instantly snapped up and 
devoured by the voracious caribee fish. 

2nd. — To-day we started early, and after 
paddling for a long stretch, we stopped at noon, on 
a rock on the edge of a pretty savannah, that re- 
called somewhat part of the English Downs; but 
here were no signs of men, save the remains of an 
old camp-fire of some Marquiritare passing to their 
homes, on the Ventuare or the Conuconumo. One 
of the pretty little river terns (a youngster) alighted 
on the rocks whilst we were cooking. I could not 
resist my predilection for pets, so I baited a fish- 
hook with a piece of fish, and secured him. 

3rd. — Fine view of the Serra Yapacani, a great 
isolated mountain-mass, which appeared this morning 
like an immense bar across the end of a bend in the 
river. Many San Fernando people were ' at work 
in this neighbourhood, collecting the goma, or india- 
rubber. For the last few days, the solitary and 
singular-looking mountain Yapacani, almost always 
capped by a sombrero, was in sight. I had 
imagined the hidden summit to be peaked, but on 
one occasion the cloud rolled from it, and I perceived 
clearly it terminated in a long abrupt line of ridge. 
I made a sketch of it. 

4th. — We were in camp towards dawn this 
morning; and I was unpleasantly aroused by a 
rustle in the dead leaves near me, and presently the 
unmistakable " whirr" of a rattlesnake sounded, 
as the reptile passed round the base of the tree to 
which the head-cord of my hammock was made 



86 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

fast. The moon had gone down, and the fire was 
burning low, therefore it was very dark. I 
cautiously reached a stick from the fire, which 
sent the intruder a little further off. The light of 
a brand discovered the " coscabel" erect, rat- 
tling furiously at the now blazing fire, and a well- 
directed charge of No. 3 shot settled the matter. On 
measuring the snake, when it was daylight, he 
proved to be 6 feet 6 inches long, and bulky in pro- 
j:)ortion. I was surprised (and so was Ramon) 
to find that he had no rattle, and so concluded the 
loud noise that awakened me must have been pro- 
duced by rubbing his rough tail against the rasp- 
like scales on his back. The skin was more hand- 
somely marked than is usual with this kind of snake, 
being mottled on the back, more after the fashion 
of a water-snake. The upper jaw was armed with 
four long fangs (two on either side), that folded 
back against the roof of the mouth, when not 
required for use. 

5th. — I came upon the camp of Senor Her- 
nandez, a native of the province of Gruarico, who, 
like the rest of the Creole whites, had fled hither 
into the forest of the Ravo de Venezuela, to be out 
of the way of the revolutionary troubles of the 
more populous part of the Republic. He was 
working rubber in the woods of an island opposite 
Serra Yapacani, and received me very kindly, as I 
negotiated with him for two quintals of goma. We 
had rather short fare at this camp, only one meal 
at evening, when the pescadores (fishermen) came 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 87 



in. But the people seemed to look on this as 
a matter of course, and contented themselves by 
munching a handful or so of dry manioco, or swal- 
lowing it, stirred up in a tutuma or calabash of 
water. But this fasting by no means suited our 
English stomachs. I little thought then, that in 
a few more weeks, on the Upper Orinoco, I should 
come to drink incuta (manioco water) with any of 
the Indians, and even prefer it to other beverages, 
when paddling and exposed to the sun. I re- 
member when I first attempted to swallow it, the 
hard grains of manioco so tickled my throat as 
to give me a violent fit of coughing. 

Senor Hernandez seemed to be living in hope 
of better things when the dry season should fairly 
set in. The thunder was continuous ; the storm 
seemed to converge round and round the isolated 
Mount of Yapacani. 

11th. — As the men promised me by Senor 
Castro were not forthcoming, I posted down stream 
to San Fernando, with Ramon, to look them up, 
passing the rocks and rapids of Santa Barbara while 
it was light, and taking a sleep while the curiara 
drifted down with the current in mid-stream, as I 
knew there were no rocks in dangerous places 
below. I well remember the first time I steered my 
canoe down a rapid. I had put her head for the 
smoothest place in the inclined plane of water 
before me, and, having done so, was rather startled 
by the ominous " whoop" given by the Indian at 
the prow; but did not fail to aid him with his 



88 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

paddle, and so we shot down in the jumble of 
broken water. When we got below I looked back, 
and at once saw the error I had made, in the 
selection of what I thought an easy channel ; for 
I perceived, under the smooth, raised water, the 
black rock not visible from above, whilst on either 
side ran the really deep water, its surface disguised 
by formidable eddies of foam. 

12th. — San Fernando at noon. We found that 
the whole of the inhabitants had been seized by 
a kind of mania for u goma," and were gone 
"al monto" in search of it. The idea appeared to 
have struck them that this really must be a good 
thing, if an Englishman like myself, coining from so 
far, desired to go in for it. I purchased a larger 
and slighter canoe, called a " casco," and got back 
to Yapacani on the morning of the 20th. 

22nd. — Again up stream with all my goods and 
chattels, bound for the Ciringa districts, which were 
• some days' journey further on. At starting, the 
men called out, as is invariably their custom, — 

" Vamos con Dios, patron!" 
To which the patron replies— 

u Y con la vergen." 

Above Yapacani the river is much divided by 
islands. 

23rd. — On the evening of this second day's 
paddle, we arrived at the large island Puruna- 
minare, having passed the mouth of a considerable 
stream of the same name, on the right bank. I 
stojjped at the rancho of Seilor Lanches, a native of 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 89 

Barquisimento (since made Grovernador, in the room 
of Castro, who was kicked out of office). Senor 
Lanches was working rubber on the island. 
The night before had been stormy, but to-night 
a perfect tornado swept down the river, and I 
became apprehensive for the manioco provision in 
the canoes, fearing the damp would spoil it. 

24th. — Continued our journey, and had fine 
moonlight nights. As soon as the sun went down, 
and the mosquitos (sand-flies) disappeared for the 
time, I used to strip off my shirt, and paddle on in 
my "pijamas," leading the way in the long, light 
canoe, with the two boys, followed by Ramon, in 
the old curiara, with two men. The moon was so 
bright, that it was easy to note the indentations 
of the bank, and, at the same time, to avoid running 
into rocks, [and the overhanging trees and bushes. 
Ramon could see the white skin of my shoulders a 
long distance off as a guide. At these times I often 
shot remarkably fine panji, much more so than 
any seen during the day, as they were sitting 
drowsily in the moonlight on some spray under 
which we happened to pass. 

27th. — -We paddled on, following the left bank 
through a heavy fall of rain in the morning. 
Ramon (who as usual /was steering the old curiara), 
was obliged to give up on account of a most severe 
fever chill. We arrived at the mouth of a small 
river, called Caricia, or Chirari. As this was about 
the neighbourhood I purposed to work india- 
rubber during the drier weather, I camped; and 



90 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

after seeing Ramon properly attended to, I at once 
despatched the men into the forest, while I paddled 
the casco up the creek in order to take them in 
farther up. In a short time they returned with 
their notched sticks, indicating fifty-seven trees 
seen in the small space of forest they had traversed. 
I felt satisfied with this intelligence, but next day 
went on as far as the next creek's mouth above. I 
discovered here that the Orinoco, instead of receiv- 
ing, gave off water, which, after describing a semi- 
circle, and blending with the water of two streams, 
Aguas Negras, fell into the main river by the mouth I 
had first entered, thus rendering the piece of land I 
had determined to work for rubber an island. I had 
noticed fine ciringa trees on the Orinoco bank all 
the way. The forest on the two sides of this stream 
presented a marked contrast: the black water fol- 
lowing one bank, and that of the Orinoco the 
other. The forest on the bank occupied by the 
white water, contained the ciringa or india-rubber 
trees, the manac palm, and other trees, in 
striking contrast with the opposite side, which had 
neither ciringa nor manac, but an abundance of the 
Chiquichiqui palm — the Piassava of the Rio Negro. 

December 1st. — I determined to put up my 
rancho for the season's work on a well-drained bluff, 
which abutted above the very dark, clear water 
of the first and smallest of the two streams already 
mentioned. This branch creek flowed out of some 
large lagoons away to the west. It was strange to 
see the toninas, or river-porpoises, disporting them- 



A journey through the wilderness. 91 



selves in this little creek in the very core of the 
continent. 

Having thus fixed on working quarters, I sent 
Eogers and two men in one of the canoes to the 
plantations of the Marquiritare on the Conucon- 
umo, to negotiate for the necessary manioco. 
(Here, in my little creek, I felt indeed shut out 
from the rest of the world. After passing within 
the mouth, and taking a few turns, all trace was lost 
of nearness even to the unpeopled reaches of the 
Orinoco, so completely is this river enclosed by the 
forest. Caricia, even more than most parts of the 
Upper Orinoco country, is dreadfully plagued by 
mosquitos (sand-flies). The true mosquitos are not 
as troublesome at night as they are in places lower 
down. (I used to watch the cold shadows of night 
gradually creep up from the water on the opposite 
side of the creek, and when the topmost boughs of 
the forest trees were alone tipped with golden light, 
I had the fires built for supper. It was the only 
time of peace throughout the day. Then the long- 
drawn note of the Grallina del Monte sounded some- 
what sadly from different directions of the forest. 
The eggs of this bird were plentiful and very 
acceptable. They are laid on the bare ground 
among the roots of trees, and are of a beautiful 
blue colour, though like those of a partridge in shape. 
Another singular note heard from the forest is 
made by a kind of rail. These birds appeared to 
assemble in numbers in swamps, especially when 
it threatened rain, for then they created such a 



92 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

clatter as to make the very "woods resound. The 
ibis of the Orinoco is the most restless of birds ; its 
cry of " coro-coro" is heard at the first streak of 
dawn (whence its native name); and with quick 
flapping wings it flies down into the silent creek. 
Even when the moon rose late and all was still, 
save the occasional voice of an owl or rana (tree- 
frog), the sound of " coro-coro" would ascend from 
the tree tops, as the bird took a sudden restless 
flight. The Indians say " coro-coro" sleeps least of 
all birds. A small pigeon's note is also often heard 
in the forest ; it is very like the Spanish words 
" falta-poco" clearly intoned. 

The constant irritation from the bite of the mos- 
quitos at length caused my hands and feet to swell, 
and become inflamed, and, after a time, to break 
out into distressingly ulcerated patches on the 
knuckles and backs of the hands. My feet espe- 
cially were so inflamed, that I was confined to my 
hammock for some days, whilst Ramon and the two 
boys were putting up the lodge. The last capping 
having been given to a substantial roof of palm 
leaves (those of the all-serviceable chiquichiqui), 
Ramon and I went to work for the first time on the 
india-rubber trees. My plan was to cut a path 
along the Orinoco coast, and another along the 
creek, and then to intersect the triangle of forest 
enclosed betwixt them. We found the forest dry 
and good for work ; and, at the beginning of my 
task, on the very first day, I cleared sixteen trees 
with the assistance of the two boys, Ramon cutting 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, 93 

the path with machete, My forces all told were but 
small, viz., Ramon, who had grown accustomed to 
my ways, — I had dubbed him patron (head man), 
although he and Rogers did not get on well together; 
Mateo, a queer weazened-looking old fellow, who, 
whenever he glanced at me, assumed a most insinu- 
ating grin, making me feel as if my own features 
were involuntarily taking the same expression: 
this old boy was the worker of the party, and did 
everything with all his might ; Benacio, a stolid 
old man, with no particular attribute to mark him 
from the others, except that he ate more than his 
comrades, and was generally in slow marching 
order when in requisition; finally, the two boys, 
Narciso and Manuel — the former, though as big 
again as the latter, was decidedly stupid; he did 
not seem to comprehend Spanish very well, and so 
it was "trabajaso" (as Ramon would say) with 
him, in my rather limited vocabulary of that lan- 
guage. Manuel was a very bright little fellow, 
somewhat approximating in character to a London 
street boy. I made him a sort of body servant, but 
I afterwards found him very roguish, and more 
given to pilfering than any of the others, which is 
saying a great deal, as almost all of these peons, or 
reduced Indians of the Rio Negro and Atabapo, are 
great thieves. They rarely take things of much 
value, but are systematic in stealing whenever they 
have the opportunity, — apparently for the mere love 
of the thing, as I have often known them to purloin 
articles that were perfectly useless to themselves. 



94 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

On the 13th, Rogers returned with only twenty 
mapiri of manioco. I continued cleaning the trees 
daily in the forest, and hoped to have 1,000 ready 
for tapping in the ensuing month. One of the 
chief features of the forest is the variety and 
immense number of bush-ropes, "bejucas," forming 
a sort of natural cordage; they are of every size, 
and bind the top branches of the trees together, 
winding round the trunks, and coiling themselves 
on the ground in endless snake-like contortions. 
In some places they caused the men much trouble, 
in cutting the paths with their machetes connecting 
the ciringa trees. Amongst the species I noticed one 
kind, the section of which, when cut, tantalisingly 
resembled the roly-poly jam pudding of home days. 
Sometimes, during the time for rest, I would sit 
down and look up into the leafy arches above, and, 
as I gazed, become lost in the wonderful beauty of 
that upper system — a world of life complete within 
itself. This is the abode of strangely plumaged birds 
and elvish little ti-ti monkeys, which never descend 
to the dark, damp soil throughout their lives, but 
sing and gambol in the aerial gardens of dainty 
ferns and sweet-smelling orchids, for every tree 
supports an infinite variety of plant life. All above 
overhead seemed the very exuberance of animal and 
vegetable existence, and below, its contrast — decay 
and darkness. Here and there was a mass of orchid, 
carried from above by the fall of some withered 
branch, sickening into pallor, thrust out from the 
vitalizing light and air. 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 95 

When the fruit of the ciringa (Siphonia elastica) 
approaches maturity, it is first visited by a flock of 
parrots, and then by the harshly screaming flocks 
of the yellow macaw. These birds are most wasteful 
feeders, the ground beneath the trees becoming 
speedily strewn with untouched fruit as well as 
the shell of the nuts. 

There are many kinds of monkeys in the neigh- 
bourhood, from the large red originate*, which roars 
hoarsely (making a far more formidable noise than 
the tiger) at any change in the weather, to the 
pretty little ti-ti. A troop of the latter is one of 
the merriest sights imaginable, as they bound with 
wonderful agility from bough to bough, leaving no 
leaf within reach unsearched for its lurking insects : 
they are especially fond of the leaf-winged locust. 
The little creatures look truly elf-like as they peer 
down at you from behind a screen of foliage to get 
a clear view of so unwonted a presence, before they 
scamper off and away through the clustering 
branches over-head. The whistles of the monkeys, 
greatly resembling the notes of some bird, are 
heard from different parts of the forest, as they 
answer one another. The arizualos, unlike the 
deep brown and black monkey of Central America 
and the lower Amazon, are a rusty -red species : 
they are equally surly, and give vent to their feel- 
ings in the same monstrous volume of roaring 
sound as the originato. Snakes were very nu- 
merous, and of great variety in form and colour. 
Ramon had no names for many that we saw : they 



96 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

generally managed to glide quickly out of the path, 
and so escaped me. There was one pretty little 
reptile more impudent than his brethren,, and less 
inclined to get out of the way. It was of a beautiful 
green ; the Indians call it loro (parrot), and Ramon 
said it was very savage and venomous— " muy 
bravo." 

The orchideous vine-vanilla was common in 
the forest, but it seemed rarely to bear fruit ; and 
when it did so, the pungent luscious aroma was to 
be perceived from a distance. There were many 
tigers, as was evinced by the numberless tracks in 
the woods : the Indians were sometimes scared from 
their work by this terrible footprint, but I never 
personally encountered a tiger here. Occasionally 
I saw a freshly disgorged fish, in the path between 
the ciringa trees. 

We had some heavy rains at night, and no 
matter where I shifted my bed, the water would 
drip through the roof on my head, putting anything 
like comfortable sleep out of the question. I came 
to the conclusion that the tilt of the roof was not 
sufficiently steep, and so ordered the men to cut 
some saplings, having a fork at the top : these we 
placed as temporary props under the chief beams. 
We then took down the supporting posts, and, 
having cut them down to the right length, replaced 
them, and gradually removed the temporary props, 
until the roof rested on the reduced posts, at a more 
acute angle. This had the desired effect, and the 
rain no more came in upon us at night. 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



97 



Two days before Christmas I sent Ramon with 
Mateo to hunt up a wild hog or a deer for the 
festive occasion ; however, they returned with 
nothing more than a panji, so the men had to fall 
back upon fish, which the waters of the creek rarely 
failed to yield in abundance. Christinas Day was 
spent in the rancho : in the morning the sand-flies 
seemed rather less troublesome than usual, but in 
the afternoon they appeared in swarms, and in the 
evening Rogers had one of his fever-chills, 

^There was small chance here of over-sleeping 
the dawn, for with it came the mosquitos, and they 
do not desist from annoying until dark. My feet 
and hands again became very sore and inflamed, 
from the constant irritation of these plagues. Daily 
wishing for night is not a very satisfactory way of 
living. I did not suffer quite so much at this 
season, when working.^ 

Christmas Day past, I despatched Ramon to 
gather a supply of the old nut-shells of the cucurito 
palm, used in smoking the rubber. The day being 
fine, I commenced tapping with part of the people ; 
the others continued to clean more trees to be in 
readiness. 

On the 2nd of January, 1870, the creek under- 
went a change in appearance. The current had 
long ceased to flow, and a sudden rise of the Orinoco 
had caused as sudden an influx of its white water. 
Latterly we had been much troubled by a large- 
headed worm (guoan) appearing beneath the skin. 
The Indians said it was produced by the Zancudos 



II 



98 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

Colorado (the red mosquito), which had become 
very numerous in the woods. I think the Indians 
right in considering these to be the larvae of a gnat. 
Those Ramon extracted from my back had precisely 
the shape of the wriggling things to be seen in 
most rain-water, enlarged, however, by the foster- 
ing heat of the flesh in which they were embedded. 
They also appear to breathe through their tails, as 
the head is buried, whilst the pointed tail-end 
approaches the surface of the skin. Their presence 
is not noticed except when they feed (at least I 
presume so, from my own sensations). The first time 
I felt them, I could not imagine what on earth was 
the matter with me : it seemed as if some one was 
making a succession of thrusts into my side with 
a red-hot needle. The operation of extracting the 
insects is tedious and painful : they are first killed 
by the fresh milk from the india-rubber tree, or 
tobacco juice, applied to the red spot indicating 
their lodgings. This district is plagued by the 
mosquitos beyond any other spot I visited; added 
to these are biting ants, chivacoas, niguas, 
wasps, &c. 

8th. — I had tapped the first hundred trees, but 
the yield was very small, which disappointment I 
attributed to their being loaded with green fruit. 
On Sunday I often paid a visit to a friendly Creole, 
called Merced Gril, who had followed me from San 
Fernando, and had established a rancho a few hours' 
paddle up the river, working the woods for ciringaro, 
near the Serra Caricia. He stated his willingness 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 99 



to supply me with a casco (a large canoe with the 
extremities squared above the water), and com- 
plained of being on " short commons," having 
nothing in his rancho but the salted flesh of a wild 
cat, to obtain which delicacy he had loaded his 
French gun with ball, and had, in consequence, 
blown a hole in one of the barrels. I saw the skin 
of the beast hanging out to dry ; it was of uniform 
grey, thereby differing from the usual forest cats of 
South America. I was better off for fare at my 
creek, with its fish and occasional fowl. 

Balenton is the largest and most powerful fish of 
the Orinoco. Ramon hooked one that towed the 
canoe a considerable distance, and he was ultimately 
obliged to cast off, as the line was too short. The 
balenton frequently leaps from the water when in 
pursuit of its prey of smaller fish, and in its heavy 
flop back into its native element raises a cloud of 
spray, seen from afar. 

We should have lived well here, but that my 
ammunition was fast giving out, so that we were 
unable to kill much game. There were also plenty 
of the mono-chocote (a monkey with long red hair 
and a short tail) to be shot on the shores of the 
succession of lagoons, or lakes of black water, open- 
ing out from the creek above. This kind of monkey 
is particularly esteemed by the Indians. It may be 
said that of all generally known meats monkey 
most resembles hare, being dark and stringy. At a 
place betwixt these lagoons of Agua Negra, I saw, 
on some rocks that lay exposed when the weather 



100 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

was driest, concentric lines cut deeply into the 
surface. What does this peculiarity indicate ? Can 
it be that the swamps and lagoons lying between 
this and the Atabapo were once inhabitable, and 
inhabited ? 

From the furthest off I visited was to be seen a 
high hill or mountain, rising over the swamp growth 
to the south-west. I believe it is possible, during 
the height of the wet season, to pass, by way of a 
network of lagoons and connecting creeks, round 
the base of this hill to the Guainia or Upper Eio 
Negro, or to communicate with the head stream of 
the Atabapo. 

As the weather became drier, another plague 
increased upon us, niguas (jiggers). My neighbour, 
Merced Gil, told me that in his eight years' experience 
of the Upper Orinoco, he never knew the waters so 
high as they were this season. There had been a 
slight subsidence, but now the water rose again. 
Every day and night we had heavy rain and an 
overcast sky. Turtle was generally plentiful, ex- 
cept at this time : we only caught a few of the small 
species, "terekya," and fish became scarcer. The 
flies were most troublesome, — we could hardly pre- 
serve anything from their contamination. Even if 
the men left a few small fish in the curiaras, in a 
very short while they would be completely lifted 
up by such masses of eggs as to resemble honey- 
comb. It would have seemed incredible had we 
not seen them. I was obliged to cover the troughs 
in which I put the liquid rubber, to prevent its 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 101 

becoming embellished with self-immolated blue- 
bottles. The bite of the scorpion of the Orinoco is 
not so painful as I had anticipated, nor does it 
occasion any after bad effects. When I was stung, 
the smarting and accompanying feeling of numbness 
was not so great as that caused by the sting of the 
forest wasp. Cockroaches, the irrepressible pest of 
some parts of Tropical America, are not so numerous 
here. A kind of kite was a great nuisance : besides 
the disagreeable squall of these birds, they often 
swooped down and helped themselves to the salted 
fish, as it hung out to dry, and sometimes succeeded 
in bearing off large pieces in their claws, in spite of 
shouts and sticks. I have seen them rising from 
the ground with a long snake dangling from their 
talons. One day I discovered a new depredator, in 
the shape of a magnificent rey de las zamoras (Sar~ 
coramphus papa), or urubu-tinga, the king of the 
vultures ; but he rose majestically, and soared away 
before I could get out my rifle. He was very large, 
and in beautiful plumage, but I was getting too 
hard up in ammunition to use my shot-gun to secure 
him. I consoled myself, however, by thinking of 
the pangs of thirst he would suffer after such a gorge 
of salt fish. 

Having looked up all the ciringa trees within 
the triangle of my paths, I continued to tap them 
daily, as the weather permitted, though the result 
was not very satisfactory. 

3 1st. — During the last week we had a visit 
from a party of Marquiritare, on their passage 



102 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



home to the Conuconumo. I thought this was a 
good opportunity of sending Rogers to procure 
more manioco ; he was of no use to me here. 

These Marquiritare are the most numerous and 
important tribe at present on the Upper Orinoco. 
They live chiefly on the banks of the Conuconumo, 
Paramo, and other tributaries on the right bank, 
and are much fairer in complexion than the 
Indians of Atabapo, or the Lower Orinoco : their 
plantations of the zuca shrub are very extensive, 
and the women make large quantities of manioco 
from the root. Indians of this tribe frequently visit 
the British settlements on the Demerara, taking 
advantage of the proximity of the head streams 
of the Ventuare, Caura, and Caroni. Many of the 
Marquiritare, who stopped to see me as they passed, 
pronounced a few English words very distinctly. 
They bring English trade-guns with them from 
Demerara, for the Spanish Creoles, who purchase 
them in preference to the trumpery cocopetas sold 
at the Grerman stores at Ciudad Bolivar. The 
Marquiritare are also one of the famous tribes for 
the manufacture of the urari poison, and the beauty 
and quality of their blow-tubes. They preserve 
the plumage of beautiful birds for their feather- 
work, hammock fringes, &c, esjDecially that of the 
gallo de piedra (the cock of the rock), so con- 
spicuous from the fine orange tints of the small 
birds, only seen in this district among the boulder 
masses forming the raudales of the upper courses 
of the rivers, particularly the cataracts of Maypures, 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 103 



and on the rivers Conuconumo and Padamo. They 
positively affirm that salt is an antidote to the 
poison, and say that if the mouth of an animal be 
filled with salt as soon as struck, it recovers, and 
speedily becomes very tame. 

A young Spanish Creole named Roja, with his 
two women, worked for me during February. I 
calculated a hundred trees for one man's tapping 
as the amount of his daily labour. A large herd of 
barquiro (wild hog) wandered about my water- 
enclosed piece of land. Sometimes they mis- 
chievously broke up the palm-leaf cups in which 
I caught the ciringa milk, and we occasionally 
secured a dinner from their ranks. With the 
addition of Roja and his women to my company, 
the roof of my rancho afforded scanty accommo- 
dation, although they always slept outside except 
the nights were rainy. Lately I had had the first 
touch of fever since leaving San Fernando ; and 
about the 8th of February I began to suffer much 
from extreme nausea and vomiting, which pre- 
liminary attack came on in the forest, whilst going 
my round of tapping the ciringa. I was a long 
way from the puerto of the path where the canoe 
was secured, and had great difficulty in getting 
there, as each time the fit of nausea returned, I 
became quite powerless, and had to drop down on 
the damp earth, and wait until the paroxysm was 
over. When I staggered to my feet, my machete 
would get betwixt my legs, and nearly capsize me 
again. Having at length reached the curiara, I 



104 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

endeavoured to paddle up the little branch creek 
to my lodge ; but the sun was too powerful for me, 
and I had to scramble on shore again before I could 
make the attempt to reach it. Fortunately, I was 
now not far from it, as I was reduced to crawling 
on my hands and knees, and the remainder of my 
strength fast failing. However, eventually, I did 
reach the bench made of split steins of the manac 
palm I used for a bed. I remember little of what 
passed during the four days that the constant nausea 
and vomiting lasted. It is singular what an im- 
pression the slightest mark of kindness and human 
sympathy makes on one in such an extremity. I 
recollect one afternoon, as I lay prostrate and 
incapable of moving, and part of my back bared 
to the swarms of sand- flies which filled the air ; 
at that time a woman of Roja's entered, and 
seeing my condition, she passed her cool soft hands 
gently over my burning brow and back, brushing 
away the plagues. Although unable to thank her, 
I think I never felt so grateful for anything. The 
Indians firmly believed my sudden seizure to have 
been caused by a sight of ' c the little pale man of 
the forest," whom they say is a little elfin sprite, 
appearing occasionally to people alone in the forest, 
rising from its abode among the roots of certain 
trees which it particularly affects. When visible, it 
is supjDosed to be the sure precursor of evil to the 
unlucky beholder, if not of his death. They all 
considered me at that time to be a doomed man. 
As I was unable to eat anything procurable here, 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 105 

my weakness increased. The want of breeze was 
also another drawback, for the currents of air that, 
from time to time, sweep down the broad Orinoco, 
do not reach the transverse bed of the tributary 
streams. Eoja and the two women continued to 
tap the trees, bringing in a little rubber daily. As 
I became weaker, I felt that the only chance for me, 
and even that a small one, was to go and spend a 
few days up the river, on the more breezy shore of 
the main Orinoco, at the rancho of my neighbour, 
Merced Gil. He and his family were most kindly 
attentive, and I did get better. Strangely enough, 
the first thing that stopped the continuous sickness 
was a draught of gaurapo, made with the heated 
juice of sugar-cane. My host attributed my illness 
to my having drunk two kinds of water in the 
creek, Agua Negra and Agua Blanca. At parting 
he gave me some of his small store of the fine 
tobacco of the Cassiquiare. 

Rogers returned from Conuconumo in, appa- 
rently, a very weak state, and said he had been 
sick all the time he was away. He brought with 
him a little manioco and tobacco, and more was 
to follow. It is when recovering from illness here 
that one regrets the absence of any beverage but 
water, and the accompaniment of unpalatable 
solids in the shape of crude flesh or fish, to be 
eaten with the coarsest description of breadstuff. I 
was compelled to abandon my rancho up the creek, 
it became so infested with niguas ; and had another 
put up at the mouth, where a slab of rock slopes 



106 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



down into the water. In order to escape, in a 
measure, from the torment of mosquitos, I had this 
one constructed with the palm-thatch down to the 
ground all round, leaving only a small hole (over 
which I hung a blanket) for entrance. Here, in 
the dark, I could enjoy a little rest in my chinchora, 
when I came in tired from the forest. 

Roja caught a sloth one morning in the act of 
swimming across the creek. This was the first time 
I ever tasted the flesh of this curious animal, and 
although it was badly cooked, it was really good 
eating. Next day several fine wild hogs were shot, 
but we had great difficulty in jerking the meat 
during the rainy weather, for want of sun. 



107 



CHAPTER VII. 

February 27th. — The rains continued to increase 
in violence, and the river had risen greatly, not- 
withstanding that this was the dry season. For 
many days I was unable to tap the india-rubber 
trees, and Ramon was laid up with what is called 
" a game leg," and most of the other people were 
suffering more or less from calentura ; consequently, 
I took very little ciringa. 

March 1st. — Heavy rains were incessant, chiefly 
at night : the Orinoco was very much swollen. 
Merced Gil was swamped out of his work at 
Caricia, his ciringa trees and rancho being under 
water. This week we killed three of the larger 
kind of wild hog called barquiro ; they appeared to 
me identical with the javiti of Central America : an 
immense herd of them wandered about the exterior 
of the rancho, and Merced came down to join in the 
shooting. After we had secured several, we stowed 
them away in the canoe. Benacio and the boy 
Narciso did not appear with the one entrusted to 
them, though we could hear them whistling at no 
great distance, and called to them repeatedly. I 



108 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

suppose they were over-elated at the prospect of 
their favourite meat for a feast ; for though I sum- 
moned them several times, still they loitered. 
Merced Gil was sitting in the curiara, and the sand- 
flies were in clouds : I could stand it no longer ; so 
vacating the stern of the canoe, I jumped on shore, 
and advanced along the path to meet the truants. 
I suppose I did not look amiable, for no sooner did 
Benacio see me, than he dropped the end of the 
pole on which they were carrying the pig, and 
bolted into the bush. In the evening, as he did 
not return, I considered he had absconded alto- 
gether, although, from intimations I received from 
time to time from Merced's wife, (who was staying 
at my place during her husband's absence at the 
Conuconumo,) herself an Indian of the pueblo Maroa, 
I was certain that he was hanging about the place, 
and was receiving food from the others. I never suc- 
ceeded in catching him, though several times I rose 
in the night and went by a circuitous route to the 
men's quarters ; but he was always too quick for me. 
Ramon admitted he had been there, and was living 
somewhere in the forest, and that one of the women 
was generally with him at night. He afterwards 
induced away the stupid boy Narciso, and I saw 
no more of them. Roja completed his month of 
service, and left for Maypures, which defection 
nearly deprived me of hands, as Ramon was sick, 
and able to do very little, and Mateo was with 
Merced Gril. The peons of this district are hard to 
procure as workers. They are almost all deeply in 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 109 



debt to tlie principal Creoles of the pueblo, and 
when they are secured, they are fit for little, as 
they have all the vices of a reduced and selfish race. 

About this time I was greatly surprised at finding 
a French gentleman in my lodge when I returned 
from the forest. In so remote a situation all Euro- 
peans appear as countrymen. This traveller was 
journeying to Esmeralda, intent on exploring the 
country behind the great peak of Duida, having 
determined in his mind that there must be a mine 
of gold in that direction. Thinking to return this 
way in a month, he promised to call on me, that 
we might have a raid on the barquiro together, 
but I never saw him again. 

As soon as Ramon was on his legs, we tapped 
the trees, with a little better yield. The water, 
after having risen to within a few feet of the door 
of my rancho, subsided as rapidly, and we had dry 
weather for a short time, just as we had begun 
to despair of it. 

19th. — I was again troubled with much fever at 
mid-day, but the attack was not sufficiently severe 
to prevent my getting through the tapping of my 
trees. 

26th. — During the past week the weather had 
been very fine ; but, owing no doubt to the stagnant 
water-pools, the forest now swarmed with the 
zancudos mosquitos, and whilst at work we literally 
led a life of torment. These zancudos were of a 
reddish colour, unfamiliar to me, and they bit 
dreadfully in the shade of the woods during the 



110 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

daytime, and came out in full vigour on moonlight 
nights. 

I now sent Rogers down to San Fernando to 
seek advice of the padre of the pueblo, who 
enjoyed a local celebrity for physic. He went with 
Merced Gil. He had not been able to do one day's 
work in the forest for some time, and was in a 
very weak condition. 

April 3rd. — This was the third week of fine 
weather ; but I found the position I occupied would 
not be tenable much longer, as I had no more 
ammunition for my gun, and had, therefore, to rely 
entirely upon the fish-hook. In the night Ramon 
sometimes took a small species of cayman, called 
bavia. I did not dislike the flesh. It is best 
salted, but it had an unpleasant odour and taste 
of musk about it, — resembling the flesh of some 
large fish more than that of an animal. 

When it was fine I used to sleep on a rock 
on the bed of the Orinoco below, in order to avoid 
the zancudos. We were only once fairly caught by 
the rain, although we often had to take warning 
from the lowering sky and distant thunder, to get 
within timely shelter. The play as or sand-banks 
scarcely appeared this year; that opposite the mouth 
of the creek was only dry for two or three nights. 

10th. — The weather continued fine, and would 
have been really enjoyable, had it not been for the 
insect population. The nights were, for a short 
time, unexpectedly clear and bright for this humid 
region, and I was able to sleep well on the rocks 



A JOUKNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. Ill 

below. During the brief paddle there after supper, 
I was often struck by the extreme grace and beauty 
of groups and clumps of tall macanilla palms, 
especially if the crescent moon were rising behind 
their leafy crowns. One morning, when sleeping on 
these rocks, I awoke as usual in the grey of the 
dawn, and saw a funny-looking little quick-eared 
creature perched on the top of a boulder. I could 
not make out what it was in the faint light, or how 
it could have got there, surrounded as we were by 
the river, but I secured it by casting my blanket 
over it. My prize proved to be a beautiful little 
animal, called by the natives *'ravo pilado," on 
account of its tail being without hair. The rest of 
the body was covered with beautiful woolly fur. 
The one I caught had two imperfectly-formed 
young firmly attached, one on each side, under the 
fore legs, externally, after the manner of this 
curious creature. Its ears were transparent and 
delicately veined, and it twitched them, as if hurt, 
by any sudden noise. From the appearance of its 
large eyes it was nocturnal in habit, and not accus- 
tomed to be surprised by the broad daylight. 

15th. — Good Friday. — Ramon had been unable 
to work again for some time past. Last Good Fri- 
day I spent in an Arigua village on the Upper Caura. 
This Lent I had no need to observe the fast, for it 
was of necessity : there was nothing but a little, 
very little, fish to be had, my ammunition being long 
expended. 

In the afternoon, after tapping the trees, I used 



112 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



to set Ramon and Manuel to work with hook and 
line ; in the mean time, I paced up and down upon 
the dry slab of rock at the water's edge, in front of 
my rancho. It may be imagined that the line was 
watched with sufficient interest, as thereon depended 
supper and breakfast for the morrow. I did not lose 
the best hours of the morning, as they were given 
to the tapping process. We caught some very large 
tembladors (electric eels) in the pools of standing 
water in the forest. We used to spear them with 
long lances of sharpened saplings, as they lay con- 
cealed under the rotten logs which darkened the 
water. These pools also contained small fish of 
curious shapes. I was delighted at discovering that 
the sand-flies, those inveterate plagues of man in 
these regions, are not without their own enemies. 
My attention was at first attracted to a small fly 
thickly settling on the blanket that was suspended 
over the entrance to my dark rancho ; and when 
I watched them more closely, I observed that each 
held a sand-fly spitted on its proboscis, which it had 
evidently secured on the wing from amongst the 
dancing myriads before the door, returning to the 
blanket to consume the captives at leisure. A 
diminutive but active yellow wasp also disported 
itself on the surface of the blanket, pouncing upon 
any of the sand-flies that became momentarily en- 
tangled in the hairs, speedily devouring them. It 
is a misfortune that these exterminators are not 
more proportionate to their prey ! Most of the 
native fishing-lines, and the best, are those made 



A JOUKNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 113 

from the fibre of the young, still-folded leaf of a 
palm called cumare. Other palms, such as manriche, 
milite, macanilla, &c, make good cord, but do not 
equal the cumare for strength and the endurance of 
water. Our strongest water cord is not to be com- 
pared to it. The finest chinchoras (or hammocks) 
are also made from this palm, though the other 
three varieties supply material for an inferior article ; 
but these fine chinchoras are the " grass hammocks" 
mentioned by the coast travellers. 

The rock at my rancho was a favourite resort 
for numbers of butterflies of different species, as all 
the rocks were that contained little puddles, alter- 
nately covered and uncovered by the rise and fall 
of the river. They settle in closely packed clusters 
of colour, and, when disturbed, mount cloud-like 
into the air, but soon re-settle on the margin of the 
pool. 

17th.— Easter Sunday. — The long course of Cari- 
bee fish was at last broken. We took a caharo, a 
large fish, with an immense head : the flesh is sub- 
stantial, and makes good salt provision. I very soon 
tired of the tembladors, though they were not bad, 
but of too gelatinous and viscous a consistency 
when cooked to be eaten constantly. I was taking 
a siesta in my chinchora, after coming in from the 
forest, when I was roused by a voice calling out that 
the curiara was adrift. True enough, I found the 
little rascal Manuel had not made her fast properly, 
and, the river having risen suddenly, she was going 
off in the current down stream, with the paddles. 



1U A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



It was well that I got out in time, as Ramon was 
not able to take to the water in pursuit of her, and 
Manuel was afraid of caribees. I must confess that 
after a sharp spurt I was not sorry to get my arm 
over her side and scramble in. On another occasion 
(during a previous rise of the river), when we came 
in from the woods, I found the other canoe, the 
casco, gone. As I thought it could not have got far, 
I started off at once ; but, though paddling hard, 
we did not come up with it until sunset, when we 
found it caught in some bushes at a bend in the 
river. Although very hungry, there was no alter- 
native but to paddle back as soon as possible. We 
did so towards morning, through a deluge of rain, 
and quite famished. The rain now r seemed fairly to 
have set in; the river, after having fallen somewhat 
lower than before, rose rapidly to within a few feet 
of the rancho door. Many different kinds of ranos 
(tree frogs) and ground toads (zapos) croaked 
loudly from the shore in as many different voices. 
The forest atmosphere was heavy with the fragrance 
of orchids, and other plants of the same nature, un- 
folding their flowers to the increasing moisture that 
hung in the branches of the trees. Owing to the 
turbid current of the rising river, fish became very 
difficult to procure, and the rains rendered it im- 
possible to work in the forest with success ; lagoons 
of standing water crossed all the paths. At the end 
of the month I evacuated my position as no longer 
tenable, intending to make a push for Para by way 
of the Cassiquiare, Don Carlos, and Manaos. 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 115 

26th. — Two days were passed in making a palm- 
thatched toldo for the casco (the ciringa trees had 
been tapped for the last time), and we freighted her 
with india-rubber, &c. I had, with the assistance 
of the little rascal Manuel, now to do everything 
myself, as Ramon was quite off his legs. The rancho 
was entirely swamped, the rains becoming so heavy 
that the water draining off the forest-covered slope 
behind ran through in a continuous stream. It was 
impossible to get out of my chinchora at night 
without splashing into the water above the ankles. 
Snakes and zapos began to be unpleasantly nu- 
merous in the thatch. Many of my rubber trees 
were under water in the forest, and when it was 
dry enough to tap the remainder I could not reach 
them without wading waist-deep. It had often 
puzzled me where the little fish to be seen in this 
freshly fallen rain came from, as the pools and 
lagoons had no connexion at all with the river. 

27th. — Unable to start early. It had rained in 
torrents all night, continuing on into the day. We 
had had nothing to eat but manioco for three days 
past, and little Manuel looked quite pale when we 
started. Ramon was helplessly sick. 

28th. — After a hard struggle up stream against 
the current, I found it was out of the question to 
make sufficient headway with the two heavily loaded 
canoes, and little Manuel only to assist me. I 
therefore made the casco fast in a sheltered place, 
and pushed on in the smaller curiara to solicit aid 
from any ciringoros I might chance to find still at 



116 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

work on the river above. After a long day's paddle 
against the stream we found the rancho (the only 
one Kamon knew of) had been abandoned. The 
trees of this ciringal had evidently been very care- 
fully tapped, from what I saw of those near the 
rancho. I borrowed a winkle from these people, 
which I may adopt with advantage at some future 
time. With great reluctance I gave up the idea of 
passing by way of the Cassiquiare, now but a shoit 
distance from us, and instead, gave the word for 
down stream ; but it was impossible to conquer the 
current with the two canoes and no fit coadjutors, 
although if we had been able to gain the Orinoco 
mouth of the Cassiquiare, all our labour would have 
been over, passing into its swift current. No time 
was now lost in cooking, for we had nothing to 
cook ! We soon reached the casco again, and then 
on, past Cano Caricia. I took a long look at the 
forest about its mouth, which had become so familiar 
to me. 

We found some of Senor Lanches' peons still at 
Purunaminare island, but they were about to leave. 
I was very glad to get a piece of gritty salt fish 
from them. We passed Serra Yapacani in the 
evening. It was very calm, and the sunset was 
beautiful. The surface of the river seemed to re- 
sound with the noise of a fish, the bocon of the 
natives. We startled immense flights of gauzy- 
winged insects, passing through them as we went : 
they were flying obliquely across the river with 
the greatest regularity, all in the same direction. 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 117 

In the middle of the third day, after having 
turned down stream, I arrived at San Fernando de 
Atabapo. After getting clear of the raudales of 
Santa Barbara, I had lashed the two canoes together 
that I might continue on with the current during 
the night whilst we slept, as there were no rocks or 
rapids to fear below. I was very glad when we got 
safely below Santa Barbara, as the casco containing 
a great part of my rubber was too much for little 
Manuel to manage among the rocks and runs above. 

Although for many days together I had taken 
nothing but u inciita" (manioco and water mixed), 
I think I never felt better in my life. In spite of 
alternate rain and a fierce sun, I did not suffer from 
thirst. 

At San Fernando I found a change in the 
government, Senor Lanches, the Creole white from 
Barquisimeto, replacing Castro as Governador* 
Rogers was at the village, looking much better. I 
took up my lodging at the hospitable house of 
Senor Angel Maria Oveidos. He was going into 
Brazil, and we arranged to journey in company* 
During the delay I again enjoyed the abundance of 
the delicious oranges of San Fernando, and I saw 
some of the beautiful rich red pigment called chica, 
which is prepared chiefly by the Poynaves of the 
Mirida. 

I think I have never experienced so relaxing a 
climate as that of San Fernando. The water of the 
Atabapo has a glassy smoothness, rarely ruffled by a 
breeze. A small glimpse of the river, seen from the 



118 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



door, reminded me of the Thames above Richmond 
on a sultry summer's day : long islands of low 
brushwood divide the placid stream. I had at this 
time a severe attack of the nausea and vomiting, 
which speedily reduced me to a very weak state 
again. I therefore acted upon the advice of my 
host, Senor Angel Maria, to start on before and 
await him in more salubrious air at Javita, or 
elsewhere. 

The first pueblo after leaving San Fernando is 
called Chimuchin ; afterwards, those of Baltazar and 
Santa Cruz appear ; and finally Javita, situate on one 
of the head streams of the Atabapo, on the low 
division betwixt the waters of that river and those 
of the Rio Negro. Here everything had to be 
carried about nine miles overland to the stream 
Pimichin. The villages of the Atabapo and those 
of the Guarinia above the Cassiquiare, supply 
nearly all the peons employed by the Creoles of the 
country. The Atabapo district is, indeed, a land of 
water ; at the rainy season scarcely any dry land is 
to be seen, except that occupied by the Indian 
pueblos. The saying of the Indians, that " where 
the waters are black the stones are white," is fully 
verified by the bleached look of the rock on the 
shores of the Atabapo and its equivalent, that 
where the waters are white the stones are black — 
equally so by the polished surfaces so characteristic 
of the Orinoco. The utter absence of water-fowl 
denoted the scarcity of fish, and ■ the traveller on 
the Atabapo has the greatest difficulty in getting 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 119 



sufficient provender for sustenance. After passing 
Santa Cruz, the canoe-men constantly left the main 
stream, and followed well-cut water-paths, just wide 
enough for the canoe to pass through the flooded 
woods. The trees were of little variety, and mean 
growth. For the most part they are identical with 
the kind producing the exceedingly light wood, 
found bordering the black water lagoons, through 
which flows Cano Caricia. There are also those 
clumps of the little palm with fruit and leaf resem- 
bling the manriche ; each stem bears a crown of 
five or six leaves. On the shores of the Atabapo 
and its head streams, the big timber is seen only in 
the distance. Amongst them, and deeply flooded, 
I noticed the lofty tree with its dome of violet 
flowers, that I had observed on the Upper Caura. 
The chiquichiqui palms abound. They supply the 
piassava of commerce. At length we drew up at the 
landing-place of J avita. This pueblo is particularly 
conspicuous, from the great number of pijijan palms 
growing in clumps about the houses. San Antonia 
de Javita is named after the last native chief of the 
Guainia. Afterwards, the Indian tribes of that 
river (except at its sources) and of the Atabapo 
were amalgamated, and blended together in pueblos 
established by the old Spanish missionary padres, 
who penetrated into the country on the retreat of 
the Portuguese traders lower down the river, and 
the advancement of the Spanish boundaries. They 
have, since the exeunt omnes of the padres, become 
veritable peons, and appear to have lost all know* 



120 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



ledge of original nationality. The Baniva tongue 
is pleasant to the ear, and is spoken in all the 
pueblos from San Fernando de Atabapo to San 
Carlos de Rio Negro. The sand in the vicinity 
of Javita, and indeed of the whole Atabapo district, 
is of such snowy whiteness, as to form a great 
feature in the landscape. This is especially the 
case in the dry season, when one is able to walk for 
miles along the river's course on broad, hard sands, 
of dazzling whiteness. The sandy ground (which 
is very wet) affords birth to a great variety of ferns 
and mossy plants, and others with lily-like leaves, 
which combined, give a peculiar character to the 
vegetation. One very closely resembled our 
common English brake fern, but it was smaller. 
The sight of it raised up in my mind an affectionate 
remembrance of home. 

I waited some days at J avita, but as it became 
increasingly difficult to obtain anything to eat, 
I determined to push on a stage to Maroa, a village 
on the Guainia, or main Eio Negro. The portage 
path through the forest was well cut, which was an 
agreeable novelty, to be able to walk comfortably, 
and at the same time to be able to admire the 
beauty around. For the greater part of the way 
the path was hard and dry, a succession of slight 
rises and falls. In the latter we crossed many little 
streams of clear water, but stained with the inevit- 
able coffee colour so characteristic of the district. 
These little streams run in different directions ; that 
is to say, the water of some ultimately finds its way 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 121 

into the ocean from the Amazon, those on the other 
hand by the Orinoco. They are crossed by long 
logs, nicely squared with an adze by the Indians of 
the pueblo, whose duty it is to keep the portage 
path in order. These squared logs are also laid 
down wherever the soil becomes boggy, so as to 
afford firm footing to the Indians engaged in the 
transit as porters. Altogether it is quite a credit- 
able affair — and the nearest approach to a road 
I have seen here. I passed the night at the puerto 
of the path on the Pimichin. Next morning I 
woke at the first crow of the cocks from the solitary 
lodge. I never now hear the crow of a cock 
ringing shrilly out on the morning air, but I think 
of many a start I have taken in some dim, 
unknown, moonlit path, in the Mariana por le 
Madenga before dawn. I verily believe it is one of 
the impressions I shall never lose. I suppose we 
all have some impressions of this palpable, and 
at the same time, vague, and undefined nature. 
The Pimichin, must be I imagine, the most winding 
and circuitous of all streams, and though narrow, it 
is very deep and rapid. We embarked in a very 
crazy old canoe, and on our passage down stopped 
to bathe from a rock. Making a sudden plunge out 
of the sunshine, I was quite startled at the extreme 
coldness of the water (it is proverbial among the 
natives) ; this quality seems scarcely to be 
accounted for by the stream having its course 
through the shade of a sombre forest, and beneath 
an almost always clouded sky. We arrived at the 



122 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



pueblo of Maroa on the 24th of May. Senor 
Andreas Level received me courteously, and pre- 
pared a banquet of such viands as were procurable 
in the place. I had been fortunate in having had 
two such very fine days, rare in this land of rain, 
and had I been stronger I should much have 
enjoyed the walk across the portage. 



123 



CHAPTER VIII. 

I little thought, on reaching Maroa, how long 
I should "be delayed within its precincts. The 
whole of June was consumed in the completion and 
the loading of the lancha of Senor Angel Maria 
Oviedos and Andreas Level with chiquichiqui 
(piassava), sarsaparilla, and the rubber produce of 
their ciringals. 

I endeavoured to pass the time as best I might, 
by visiting the pueblos below San Miguel and 
Tomo Terikin, but found them alike without in- 
terest ; in fact, there appeared to be but one source 
of enjoyment here, that of bathing in the delight- 
fully cool and limpid water of the Black River, 
very different to the turbid Atabapo, which seemed 
rather to relax the frame than to invigorate and 
refresh it. Passing from the Orinoco to this river 
the change of climate is very perceptible : the natives 
complain of cold; indeed, it is often chilly, especially 
at night or in the mists of the morning, when one 
finds comfort in gathering a blanket about one in 
the chinchora. I caught a cold at Maroa, for the 
first time during my tropical travels, owing, more 
probably, to greater susceptibility, caused by my 



124 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



late insufficiency of nutritious food, than to the 
alteration of the temperature. 

The dark waters of this river are generally over- 
hung by a cloudy sky, and the reflection of it 
throws a deep shade upon the green of the foliage, 
giving a sombre character to the land, very different 
to the variety of colouring that is displayed on the 
forest bordering of the neighbouring Orinoco. Nor 
is this the sole difference. The forest of the Black 
Water contains little fish, and harbours less game. 
At the same time, the plague of insects, ever present 
on the White Waters, is not a drawback here. In 
the Rio Negro villages the chief theme of conversa- 
tion on meeting is the " hambre " of what was 
last eaten, together with speculations as to what 
will turn up for the next meal. Even the chief 
Creoles of the pueblo, that is to say, the people who 
have the most command of the peons, are all more 
or less in the same strait. They have only them- 
selves to thank for such a state of things : they keep 
these peons, who are all most deeply in debt to 
them, constantly at work, chiquichiqui (piassava) 
cutting, rubber-collecting, or boat-building, till there 
is no time left for anything else in the way of such 
industry as planting or stock-raising, which is 
never thought of. They rely for manioco chiefly 
on the neighbouring Indian tribes of the Mar- 
quiritare and Poynaves. Almost without exception, 
these people are refugees from the more populous 
districts of the republic. Each of the principal 
pueblos, San Fernando de Atabapo, Maroa, and 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 125 

San Carlos, possesses a sort of residential clique, 
having almost a monopoly of the surrounding dis- 
tricts. At San Fernando, for instance, Senor 
Lanches, present Grovernador, Castro, ex-Governador, 
Andreas Level, the padre, and my old friend, Angel 
Maria Oviedos, have the chief command of the 
Indian labour, and consequently the greatest ability 
to draw the natural riches from the environing 
forests ; at Maroa, Andreas Level and the Buenos, 
with the stout Don Juan at their head; at San 
Carlos, the Calderons. 

I formed a friendship with Level during our 
descent into Brazil, which circumstances afterwards 
only tended to cement. Coming from one of the 
best Venezuelan families, he had been educated 
in the turbulent sjDirit and traditions of his country. 
After serving, and being often wounded in the 
endless revolutions, he had thrown up his com- 
mission, and had bent all his energy (he was sin- 
gularly energetic) on opening commercial relations 
with the coast. He was fond of relating to me 
how, a few years ago, he and his brother Pedro had 
started up the Orinoco alone, in a curiara, with 
nothing but their shirts and guns; how he had 
succeeded in opening trade relations with merchants 
of Angostura and Para, and cleared up a fine ciringal 
on the Cassiquiare, which he and all his peons 
worked in the dry season. The remainder of the 
year was spent in making lanchas at Maroa, and in 
collecting piassava, chinchoras, &c, for the next 
journey to Para or Angostura. He had recently 



126 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



brought the members of his family together in 
Maroa: his father was an officer of rank, and a 
Venezuelano of quite the old school ; he had fought 
with Paez, and had grown old in the service, but 
the beggarly republic remained in his debt. In 
order not to be entirely dependent upon Andreas, 
who was the prop of the family, the old gentleman 
worked at tailoring with a Yankee sewing-machine 
he had brought with him ; and throughout the day 
the industrious whirr of the machine might be heard 
in the quiet pueblo. 

Andreas Level assured me that he had seen a 
species of dog, perritos, hunting in packs about the 
district of Maguaca. They were smaller than the 
ordinary dog of the country, and had very pretty 
long light brown hair and tail. The Indians of the 
Maguaca sometimes caught them when young, and 
tamed them. 

I found the Venezuelans of the superior class a 
singular mixture of qualities, pleasing and repulsive. 
There is amongst these people what we should call 
an absolute disregard of common decency : they 
seem to be utterly ignorant of its very existence. 
When I first became acquainted with Level, he 
treated me somewhat distantly — inviting me to his 
table only when he could place a fair spread before 
me, and then, sitting by, would scarce touch any- 
thing himself. When he began to entertain feelings 
of friendship for me, on the other hand, it seemed as 
if he could not be too disinterestedly generous in 
his attentions. At Maroa I received many kind- 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 127 



nesses from a certain Senora Delfina. She gave 
me many little entertaining anecdotes of a tall 
Englishman, " Un Englez muy alto." How, when 
she was still a girl, and when she was living with 
her family lower down on the Negro, he had visited 
their neighbourhood, collecting and carefully storing 
away butterflies and all sorts of curious creatures, 
How several times he had, by making her look 
through a strange little instrument, converted little 
harmless mites of insects into terrible monsters. 
She seemed to think it odd that I did not know him 
personally. These people fancy all Englishmen are 
known to each other as well as they are among them- 
selves. I concluded, however, that Dona Delfina' s 
Englishman might have been the naturalist and 
traveller Wallace, who ascended the Rio Negro and 
its little-known tributary, Uripes. 

The Indians of the pueblos, nominally Christians, 
still adhere to many of their ancient customs : the 
festas held professedly in honour of the saints are 
mixed up with their old dances and pantomimes. 
A very curious one occurred whilst I was at San 
Miguel in the month of July. The Indians of 
Maroa had been invited, and came to it in a fleet 
of canoes, and the whole population of San Miguel 
turned out to meet them on the stony plaza in front 
of the mud church, where they speedily formed into 
a long string of dancers, men and women alter- 
nately, and then wound like a chain around an 
offering placed on the ground by some girls. Each 
man had his chinchora slung across his shoulders, 



128 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, 



the woman behind him clinging to it with both 
hands : the two foremost men had long trumpets, 
decorated with feathers and beads, which produced 
long, low notes, constantly directed towards the 
ground in the centre, as if to exorcise some spirit or 
genii. The others who followed were provided 
with an instrument like a mallet, only hollowed out 
inside ; these, as they were struck regularly on the 
earth, gave out a measured sound resembling a 
drum, and accompanied the pace of the whole 
whirling circle in their rhythmical chant : the lan- 
guage used in these chants is understood only by a 
few of the initiated. Every time the chant seemed 
to have reached a climax, it was wound up by a 
wild cry from the women. It was surprising with 
what pertinacity they continued to keep up the 
heavy measure of foot and voice : from its peculiar 
wildness and mystery, this dance would be in- 
valuable if adopted for the witch scenes on our 
stage. 

At Maroa the festival of San Juan was cele- 
brated in the evening by the lighting of bonfires 
around the square of the pueblo. All the younger 
Indian men and boys formed a line and careered 
madly in a circle, leaping the fires in succession; 
those most inebriated simply stumbling through, 
and scattering the burning sticks and sparks far 
and wide with their bare feet. 

The natives compound a variety of refreshing 
beverages by mixing the grated fruits of palms with 
water, and if it be an object to appease hunger, as is 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 129 

generally the case on the Negro, incuta (manioco and 
water) is added. The most universal drink is that 
made from the fruit of the manac, the assai (Euterpe 
oleracea) of Brazil, the seje, and the chiquichiqui, or 
piassava palm. The two latter give a very milky look 
and consistency to the water. The piassava has a 
beard-like growth, which drapes over, hiding the 
entire stem of the palm; as the tree increases in 
height, it appears at the base of the leaves : it grows 
in community, but only in the Aguas Negras dis- 
tricts. The natives affirm that the growth of this 
palm is exceedingly slow, hardly perceptible in a 
man's lifetime ; but the stone of the fruit readily 
germinates in the ground, and they are everywhere 
to be seen freshly rooted about the houses in the 
Indian pueblos. Palms differ greatly in matter of 
growth. The natives say that the pijijan quickest 
reaches maturity ; the manac is also quick ; but the 
manriche is a very slow-growing tree. The large- 
headed turtle, called by the Indians cabason, seems 
peculiar to the Aguas Negras : its jaws are very 
powerful, and when captured it bites furiously at 
anything in its way. It is considered the best 
eating of all the South American turtles. 

After a protracted delay in loading and drying 
chiquichiqui at Tirikin, we passed down stream on 
the 2nd of August. The peons of Tirikin are in- 
clined to be more turbulent and less easily managed 
than their fellows in most of the pueblos. The 
traders appear often to have some trouble in getting 
them to bring in the piassava (for which they have 

K 



130 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS, 



received goods in advance) without a liberal ex- 
penditure of rum. 

The chief, or only industry of these villages, 
especially of Maroa, is the building of lanchas, 
to be sold at Angostura or in Brazil. Many of 
them, however, come to grief in the passage of the 
raudales. It is really astonishing to see the 
Indian carpenters finish one of these large, well- 
made lanchas out of the splendid wood of the 
country (paraturi) from first to last, with little 
more than axe, adze, and compass. 

At San Carlos we were hospitably entertained 
at the house of Senor Calderon. The village, with 
the exception of the dwelling of the above-named 
gentleman, had a mouldering look; it was sur- 
rounded, like most of the other Rio Negro villages, 
with thickets of coffee, growing wild. The plaza 
was dotted with groups of sheep. There were also 
a few fine heads of cattle to be seen ; they belonged 
to Senor Calderon, who appreciated the luxury of 
milk with his coffee — a rare thing on the Rio Negro. 
The sheep were poor. After passing the remolino 
at the junction of the Cassiquiare, the foliage on 
the banks became much more varied, and I recog- 
nized the now well-known leaf of the ciringa. We 
formed quite a flotilla — two lanchas of Senor 
Oviedos' and three of Level's. The larger of 
Level's, the "Guainia," was the most considerable 
craft that had passed down the rapids. At Cucay, 
the frontier post of Brazil, there is a stockade and 
a iewpcvpuya soldiers, commanded by a gentlemanly 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 131 



man, dressed in the sensible light brown linen of 
the Brazilian army. Here our passports were 
looked at. I may mention that this was the first 
and last time mine was demanded throughout my 
sojourn in Brazil. I went to the office and gave 
it up before I left Para. 

The Rio Negro becomes very broad, and is 
divided by innumerable islands of all sizes, and 
the lofty mountain rock, Cucay, raises its crests, 
in the ledges of which a suspended forest, as it 
were, appears to hang above the mists far away 
on the left bank. 

The natives seem to have a decided predilection 
for making their sitios, or small plantations, on the 
islands : the number of these sitios greatly increased 
after our passage within the Brazil frontier. Leaving 
the mouth of the chief tributary of the Upper Eio 
Negro, the Uanpes, on the right bank, we soon came 
within sound of the chief rapids — those of San 
Gabriel. The scenery of this neighbourhood is 
beautiful. We passed down with nothing worse 
than a broken rudder : such good luck, however, is 
not always the case. One of Senor Calderon's 
lanchas, that had been despatched a day or two 
before us, was totally wrecked, and the bales of 
piassava lay strewn on the sands below. I de- 
scended the cataracts in the lancha of Angel Maria ; 
he and Level following in the others. As the rudder 
unshipped, she went broadside into the heavy rollers 
at the foot of the chief cachuera. Fortunately, we 
floated down with only a complete ducking ! When 



132 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 

we had fairly brought up in a little cove, and 
secured the lancha to some bushes, I embarked in 
the canoe with the Indian patron (the same man 
who had brought Castro's lancha up the Orinoco), 
and paddled round the foot of the cachuera to the 
village of San Gabriel. The short, heavy, spoon- 
shaped paddle used in this river is very awkward 
compared to that of the Caribs, to which I had 
become accustomed. Indeed, I was really tired by 
the spurt across the eddying water, although I was 
in good condition for such work. 

The view from the crumbling parapet of the old 
fort on the heights of San Gabriel is particularly 
imposing, backed north and south by high hills of 
varied outlines. The village itself is very miserable 
in appearance, though it is the post of a comman- 
dante and some soldiers. After enjoying the prospect 
of the rapids for some time from the old ruinous 
portaleza, I was wandering among the straggling, 
tumble-down huts of the village, when the com- 
mandante called me into his house and insisted on 
my taking dinner with him, which I thought was 
very hospitable, for in my costume of shirt and 
trousers, and they none of the newest, I must have 
looked rather disreputable. The following day, 
whilst awaiting the descent of the lanchas, I took 
a bathe in the river above the rapids. The bank 
seemed here to slope abruptly to a great depth, and, 
although not a feeble swimmer, I took care not to 
let go my hold on the tough herbage, as I had bought 
experience of the strength of the floods that look so 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 133 

smooth before they glide on to the rocks of the 
cataracts ; with this precaution, it was very pleasant 
to feel the water seething round the limbs in violent 
ebullition : one might almost imagine the sensations 
of a fly involved in a tumbler of soda-water ! The 
waters of the Rio Negro in its upper courses are 
always delightfully cool. At San Gabriel we enjoyed 
the unexpected treat of fresh beef. Some forty head 
of cattle and a few sheep graze on the heights. 

Below, the river continued to increase in breadth, 
but the water became somewhat charged with 
floating particles, less remarkable for purity than 
those of the Gruainia or Upper Negro. On the 19th 
the river became blocked by islands and islets 
forming the runs of Massarambe\ Beautiful scenery. 
Sitios very numerous in comparison with the 
Venezuelan rivers. I felt impressed w T ith the con- 
viction that when Brazil, the Empire of the South, 
shall have developed, and grown in her Amazonian 
provinces, she can easily absorb the Rio Negro 
districts to the great cataracts of the Orinoco. What 
a future must be in store for Brazil, if her Govern- 
ment is guided by a firm and judicious hand ! 

Our Indians now remarked that the woods 
assumed much the appearance of the Orinoco, with- 
out the same animal life — the aregnato, howling 
monkeys, game-birds, &c. Fish was difficult to 
take. Below Massarambe' the river again opens 
out into a wide expanse, but at the little village of 
Castanhiro is divided into channels at the bend, 
formed by the hills of Gruya. These hills resemble 



134 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



the eminences which characterize the Upper Orinoco ; 
but it is doubtful whether to designate them as 
mountains or as immense rocks, they are so like 
huge single stones in shape. 

On the morning of the 20th the " Guainia" went 
aground on a play a above the little village of Santa 
Isabel, and it was with two days of much labour 
and the landing of much of the cargo in the forest 
that we got off again. We saw a great deal of 
ciringa in the forest, but the trees had been much 
tapped, and did not appear very productive. 

The tree, the bark of which produces the tabare, 
so much esteemed by the Indians of the Rio Negro 
for cigaretas, was here very abundant, and the bark 
of very fine quality. To prepare it for use, it is 
first cut from the tree in long narrow strips ; while 
still green it is held upright, and the end is beaten 
sharply with a stick till it falls over in thin papery 
flakes ; it is then carefully dried in the sun, and cut 
into convenient lengths. From its excellence, I 
should think it is likely one day to become an article 
of commerce. The Indians seemed particularly 
partial to the fruit of the alfaroba tree, the edible 
part of which consists of a sweet flour-like powder 
covering the very hard beans, that are enclosed in a 
large woody pod. 

On the 24th there was an horizon of sky and 
Water ; the right bank became high, forming a clay 
bluff or barranca. The river was still deep, but in 
the dry season there are extensive sands here. The 
india-rubber of this river, unlike that of the Upper 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



135 



Orinoco, is found only on the islands, and the few 
trees I had an opportunity of examining appeared 
to possess little milk in the bark. Level and I went 
ashore at the sitio of Chibaran (beautifully situated 
on a high bluff point), where we received an accept- 
able present of fresh beef. Below this we again 
traversed island after island, and were once again 
aground, but got off with less trouble than before. 
The river opened out to an immense width, and the 
banks being low, were unoccupied for some distance 
by sitios. The people say that one may traverse 
for three days (without reaching the mainland) — • 
a maze of water, islands, and lagoons. The main 
channel apj^ears generally to tend towards the right 
bank. In the dry season much of the river-bed is 
filled by extensive sands, to which the turtles resort 
to lay their eggs. The voices of birds became more 
frequent in the forest, and the take of fish increased. 
Twice we met animals crossing from shore to shore 
■ — a tapir, and a herd of wild hogs. We continued 
to coast the right shore, which again heightened into 
bluffs. At Morera, sitios became more numerous. 
The reddish colour of the cliffs of Morera formed a 
most pleasing contrast to the green foliage. 

27th. — This day we passed the village of Bar- 
cellos, once of importance on the Rio Negro. Like 
the rest of the poblacons on this river, it has a very 
neglected appearance. The greater part of the 
young Indians of the Brazilian Rio Negro had been 
drafted away to serve in Paraguay, where the mor- 
tality amongst them had been excessive, a mere 



136 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



fraction retiring to the land of their birth. The 
sitios have an air of much more ease than the 
poblacons ; indeed, the natives bestow small attention 
upon the villages they seldom visit, except for the 
festas, but cultivate the plantations, where it is not 
so difficult to obtain provisions. 

On the 29th we passed the mouth of the largest 
tributary of the river, the Branco, having its head 
streams in proximity to those of the Orinoco tribu- 
taries, Caroni, Caura, and Ventuare ; and also those 
of the Essequibo. As at the junction of the Caroni 
with the Orinoco, the white and black waters do 
not commingle, but form distinct currents. On the 
two opposing shores there is a strongly-marked 
difference in the character of the woods. That 
occupied by the black water has the snowy white 
sands and the forest foliage of the Aguas Negras of 
Venezuela, whilst the other shore reminds the 
traveller of the Upper Orinoco. Immediately above, 
the Bio Negro, in its breadth (more than fifteen 
miles) and number of islands, is more like a lake 
than a river. At the mouth of the Branco it is 
conrparatively narrow. 

The lanchas floated on slowly down with the 
current, and leaving the patron in charge, Level, 
Angel Maria, and I often jumped into the canoe, 
and paddled away to different sitios and poblacons 
on the shores. I well remember how, on the 
evening after passing the mouth of the Branco, we 
were caught in a temporal. We saw it distinctly 
approaching up the great expanse, the water 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 137 



whitening beneath the strength of the squall. We 
struck a short, quick stroke in order to reach the 
shelter of the big-timbered forest, but it neared too 
rapidly ; so we put about into some thick, flooded 
bushes, close at hand. Here we allowed the brunt 
of the storm to go by, and then pushed on again, in 
the hope of finding the landing-place of the sitio. 
However, the darkness fell fast; and drenched, 
hungry, and tired as we had become, the prospect 
was not a cheerful one, although we endeavoured to 
keep up the semblance of hope to each other. Twice 
we fancied we neared the village. Level had been 
there once before ; though at length we came to the 
conclusion, from the appearance of the water, that we 
were not following the main bank, but one of the 
interminable lagoons or back waters common to the 
river. On and on we went, and at length retraced 
our way ; when nearly done up we descried a star- 
like speck, which we recognized as the light of the 
large lancha, and we eventually reached her, 
sopping wet, and utterly exhausted. After changing 
our clothes we supped in the moonlight, for the 
night was now fine, on the top of the toldo. 

The highlands about the head of the Branco will 
probably be one of the richest and most beautiful 
districts of Equatorial America, when once fairly 
opened by enterprise. Lower down, immense herds 
of cattle wander over the country ; they might be 
had almost for the catching, and if brought to 
Manaos (a short journey for the steamer), would 
immediately realize a large sum, Turn which way 



138 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



you will in this, the greatest water valley of the 
world, there seems to be an unlimited opening for 
enterprise or capital. 

"We went on shore at the dilapidated village of 
Airon,but found there only one old man and family, 
and nothing to be bought, all the inhabitants being 
away in the ciringal forest. In the afternoon 
the heat became very oppressive; it was often fol- 
lowed in the evening by heavy thunder squalls, 
in direct opposition to the cool temperature of the 
head stream. # 

We arrived at the town of Manoas (La Barra) 
on the 3rd of September. The town has a very 
thriving appearance ; is situate on ground of a 
very unequal surface. Two of the large English- 
built Amazon steamers lay off the town, and looked 
very suggestive of a return to civilization. I shall 
now, therefore, cease these Notes of a Journey 
through the Wilderness. I will but say to those 
who contemplate bending their steps to the Tropical 
West, that / after all my experience of Tropical 
America, I have come to the conclusion, that the 
valley of the Amazon is the great and best field for 
any of my countrymen who have energy and a 
spirit of enterprise as well as a desire for indepen- 
dence, and a home where there is at least breathing 
room, and every man is not compelled to tread on 
his neighbour's toes.^ I purpose to make the table- 
lands in the triangle betwixt the Tapajos and 
the Amazon, behind the town of Santarem, in future 
the base of my operations. 



A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 139 



I parted from my Venezuelan friends, Level 
and Angel Maria Oviedos, at Para, and they re- 
turned to their distant homes on the Gruainia. I 
have since seen the following paragraph from a 
Para paper, from which I fear poor Level has come 
to grief, on his way up the Negro with his goods, 
and the results of the sale of his lancha and 
produce :— 

" Mais uma atrocidade dos indios. — No dia 9 do 
corrente mez de dezembro, n'uma das margens do 
Rio Negro, limites da freguezia de Moura, acabao os 
indios Jaupery's (Uanpes) de assaltar uma canoa 
do Venezuelano Andre Level que ha ponco seguio 
desta capital para a republica de Venezuela, ferindo- 
llie gravemente quatro tripolantes e roubando-lhe 
mais de cinco contos de reis de mercadorias, de 
que ia carregada a mesma canoa. Pessoa autorisada 
da mesma freguezia diz-nos que muito receia que os 
indios vao a mesma freguezia e commettao os 
maiores attentados, visto o abandono em que estao 
de for^as para repelil-os ; e pede-nos a publicidade 
deste facto para que providencie a autoridade." f 

•f- Another Atrocity of the Indians. — On the 9th day of the 
current month of December (1870), on one of the banks of the Eio 
Negro, in the limits of the freguezia (parish of Moura), the Jau- 
pery's (Uanpes) Indians attacked a canoe of the Venezuelan Andre" 
Level, who had a short time ago started from this capital for the 
republic of Venezuela, seriously wounding four of his crew, and 
robbing him of more than five contos of reis (£500) worth of goods, 
with which his canoe was laden. 

A trustworthy person of the same freguezia tells us that he 



140 A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 



I was the more surprised on reading this, as the 
Indians of the riyer had always been considered 
remarkably peaceable. I suppose they must have 
become hostile from the system of kidnapping the 
young men for service in the Brazilian army. 

much fears the Indians will return to it and make more strenuous 
attempts, seeing the utter destitution in which the inhabitants are 
of forces to repel them, and asks us to give publicity to this fact, 
that the authorities may be enabled to provide against it. 



A JOURNEY 

AMONG THE 

WOOLWA OE SOUMOO 

AND 

MOSKITO INDIANS 

OF 

CENTEAL AMEEICA. 



143 



PART II 



A JOURNEY among the WOOLWA or SOUMOO 
INDIANS of Central America,, 



CHAPTER L 
The Bremen schooner u Johann," 350 tons, in which 
I was a passenger, sailed from London on the 5th of 
August, 1866, and after a tedious voyage we sighted 
the island of St, Lucia on the 4th of October. It 
appeared in the distance quite a pile of mountains, 
and we were soon able to distinguish the character 
of the scenery, for we passed very close to the S. W. 
point : the hills were of a most fantastic shape, and 
densely wooded to their very summits; a light 
breeze blew off the shore, bringing with it a de- 
lightful perfume, which, after my long confinement 
to the ship, made me desire a ramble amongst the 
woods and bright green slopes, that looked so 
attractive in the sunlight; and when, as we stood 
out to sea, the sun sank behind the Pitons, the view 
was indescribably beautiful. 



144 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 

Wrapped in a rug, the sleeping on deck was 
pleasant in the delightfully pure air, and the stars 
that thickly studded the sky looked like little lamps 
swinging overhead with every motion of the ship. 
We often sailed along through immense shoals of 
flying-fish, which, in full flight, strongly resembled 
dragon-flies. Many came on board, chiefly at night, 
flying over the sides of our heavily-laden vessel, 
when they were eagerly captured, and served up as 
a very welcome addition to our salt sea fare ; indeed, 
they are exceedingly rich and delicate in flavour, 
more like smelt than any other fish. On the 21st 
we sighted the mainland about Monkey Point, and 
shortly after hills and islets covered with vegetation 
appeared in succession. 

The approach to Grey Town is prepossessing: 
the hills being well wooded, and the crests of many 
of them are crowned with umbrella-shaped trees of 
great size. The mountains in the background as 
we drew near were partly veiled in mist and cloud. 
Shortly after sighting Monkey Point, a handsome 
butterfly flew on board, which I secured. It proved 
to be a Heliconius galenthus. 

In approaching Grey Town, the captain, 
according to the sailing directions on his chart, 
very nearly ran on the bar; but, fortunately, a 
friend who had come to meet me, hailed him from 
a boat, and prevented the mishap that might have 
ensued. The mistake occurred through the constant 
shifting of the bar, arising from the quantity of 
sand brought down by the San Juan river; in fact, 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 145 



old Moskito men have told me that they can 
remember having seen English men-of-war lying 
where Grey Town now stands. The only vessels 
we found here were the American mail-steamer 
and an Italian brig. 

I landed with the captain next morning, when 
he called on his merchant; and in the evening I 
brought my baggage on shore, and took a turn 
by moonlight among the houses, that were scattered 
in clumps. The riot of insect life was very re- 
markable : some sounds resembling the tinkling of 
bells, others, the chirrup of our own grasshopper, 
only much louder ; frogs shrieked on one side and 
on the other made a noise like a kettle-drum. 

One morning I took a delightful ramble on the 
skirts of the forest; the butterflies were very 
numerous and beautiful, varying from the size of a 
bat, to that of our very smallest species. The 
woods in all directions were traversed by the 
beaten roads of ants, called by the natives 
" weewes," along which the little creatures were 
marching with pieces of leaves in their mouths. I 
did not feel the heat as much as I had expected, 
it being very showery, as is usually the case at this 
season of the year. 

The town is situated on very low ground, with 
a lagoon in its rear, and is altogether a very un- 
interesting place. The hills, visible from the sea, 
are lost sight of on landing, on account of the dense 
woods that intervene. The j)opulation i s of an 
exceedingly mixed character, the Indian blood being 

L 



146 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 

discernible in the warm coppery tinge of the com- 
plexions of some of the inhabitants, while others 
are as black as ebony. Many of the Moskito people 
speak very good English. It appeared strange to 
me, as yet unaccustomed to the ways of the country, 
to see the ladies promenading in the evening with 
handkerchiefs on their heads, and sometimes nothing 
at all, cigars in their mouths, spitting in the most 
approved fashion as they walked. On the evening 
of the day following my arrival, as I strolled out, I 
paused in astonishment beside a pool, listening to 
sounds created by the frogs ; as for my English 
terrier, Jack, he was perfectly bewildered. I had . 
purposed engaging a canoe that day, and starting 
for Blewfields, but waited till the next, as, by 
so doing, I secured a passage in a little Moravian 
schooner, " Messenger of Peace." I experienced 
much annoyance at having to pay duty on my 
powder, for, by some mistake, it had not been 
entered on the ship's papers as my own. I dis- 
covered also that English bank-notes were not 
available as current money on this coast, and was 
obliged to send those I had with me back to 
London. 

On the 26th of October the " Messenger of 
Peace" started for Blewfields. As we passed the 
old "Johann," the captain waved his hat, and I 
was glad to see he did not harbour any remem- 
brance of the little differences we had had during our 
outwards passage. We were rather a long time in 
reaching Blewfields, being detained a whole day 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



147 



about Monkey Point, under which we anchored, 
sp ending the time pleasantly enough, fishing at 
bottom for " crook-crook," so named by the Moskitos, 
from the noise the captive makes when taken out 
of the water : in appearance, it is something 
between the perch and the wiasse of our coast. 
We were becalmed the greater part of the next 
day, and caught more " crook-crook " for breakfast 
and dinner. 

Monkey Point is certainly a very pretty spot, 
and would, no doubt, make a good harbour with 
Captain Pirn's proposed improvements. At present, 
the Carib boats and other small coasters always 
make for it at the first threatenings of a storm, and 
are often for safety compelled to remain there for 
days. 

About three o'clock, passing between Blewfielcls 
Bluff and Cassada Cay, we entered Blewfields 
Lagoon. The bluff is a bold headland, indicating 
the mouth of the northern entrance of the lagoon. 
From a distance it looks like an island, being joined 
to the mainland only by a low narrow strip of 
mangroves. After sailing half way across the lagoon, 
we anchored at sunset near a little island covered 
with broken cocoa-nut trees, called Bluffway Cay, 
and situated opposite the settlement. What struck 
me most here was the desolate appearance of the 
forest, ravaged by a hurricane, which had caused 
the devastation about a year before (1865). I went 
ashore at once in the canoe, intending to call on 
the missionary, Mr. Liindberg, to whom I had 



148 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



brought a letter of introduction. It was dark when 
I landed, and, as at Grey Town, I was much struck 
by the wonderful variety of sounds among the insect 
and reptile life. In coming on shore, my eyes, 
ears, and nose were quite filled with small things 
resembling sand-flies : these, however, did not bite, 
though they were annoying. I think they must 
have been peculiar to that time of year, for I did 
not see them afterwards in any numbers. Mr. 
Llindberg was away from home, having gone to 
Kama Cay when I called at the mission-house, but 
I was very kindly received by the gentleman in 
charge. Next morning, as I was standing on 
the little jetty, waiting for my baggage to be 
brought on shore, a slight little fellow, who was 
standing by, asked me my name. Having 
answered him satisfactorily, I inquired his in 
return, to which he replied, "William Henry 
Clarence." Shortly after, during breakfast at the 
mission-house, one of the missionaries, who acted 
as his tutor, introduced the boy to me as "our 
little chief." He is the son of the late king 
of Moskito's sister, Princess Victoria, the king 
having married a woman of mixed race, a Creole. 
It is the law of the land that none but those of 
pure Moskito descent shall succeed to the chieftain- 
ship. 

The little chief seemed to take a great fancy to 
me, generally accompanying me when I went for 
a stroll with my gun. He was about ten years of 
age, and appeared very intelligent. He lived at the 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



149 



mission-house, and was, I believe, well grounded in 
his studies. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ltindberg were very kind to me 
on this and on subsequent occasions when I stayed 
at Blewfields, insisting on my taking my meals with 
them, and showing me many other attentions, for 
which I shall ever feel grateful. When I was at 
Grey Town, Doctor Green, H.B.M. Consul, had 
very politely placed his empty house at my dis- 
posal, in consequence of which I took possession of 
a hammock that I found in one of the rooms. 

The government of this country seemed in a 
very unsettled state. The Sj)aniards of Nicaragua 
had not recognized the succession, and contemplated 
making an attempt to take possession of the whole 
territory. Both the missionaries and the natives 
(whom I have much cause to esteem for the kind- 
ness shown me whilst I lived among them) are much 
distressed at England's having withdrawn her pro- 
tection, and at the treaty made by the late Govern- 
ment, in which the best part of the territory was 
handed over to the Spanish states. In fact, I 
believe there is hardly a Woolwa Towaca, or any 
other of the pure aboriginal tribes, within the 
present boundaries of the territory. These Indians 
do not live in the swamps on the coast, but, in order 
to discover their settlements, it is necessary to 
ascend the rivers to a considerable distance, to 
where the banks are high. I believe the Spaniards 
would find it a difficult matter to force them from 
their homes, and drive them into the swamps 



150 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 

which they have marked out for the Indians' terri- 
tory. 

The weather in the beginning of November was 
rather stormy, accompanied with some heavy rain, 
but this kept the air delightfully cool. The settle- 
ment of Blewfields is situated on a little peninsula 
in the lagoon, a fine sheet of water about twelve 
miles in length, and divided from the sea by a low, 
narrow slip, called Deer Island, from the number 
of these animals said to be on it. But they are 
now rarely seen, on account of the tangled state 
of the bush since the hurricane, which, as the natives 
say, quite u mashed up" the woods. Eacoon, how- 
ever, are still common among the broken mangroves 
on the lagoon side. There are many other smaller 
islands, the most interesting being Rama Cay, a 
settlement of christianized Indians, of the Rama 
tribe. Mr. Rhan, an Englishman, had also built 
a solitary house on Cassada Cay. It forms a con- 
spicuous object on passing the bluff and entering 
the lagoon. 

The population of Blewfields is of a very mixed 
character, springing probably from the origina 
Moskito race, and the two other races with which 
they held most friendly intercourse; namely, the 
runaway negroes from the West Indies, and the 
English Creoles. 

Many people in England, on hearing of this 
almost unknown country, are probably puzzled by 
the name Moskito , and possibly connect it in their 
minds with an unusual abundance of the well-known 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 151 



insect plague of the tropics. This is, however, a 
mistake, as they are by no means so numerous or so 
troublesome here as they are in other quarters, both 
of South America and the tropical countries. The 
name is a corruption of that belonging to the prin- 
cipal and most war-like tribe in this part of Central 
America. They term themselves Miskito or Mos- 
kitos, and were in times past exceedingly powerful 
and successful in resisting the inroads of Spain, with 
the assistance of the English. 

Some time before I visited the country, the 
Moravian missionaries on the coast were distressed 
by the appearance of a Spanish priest from Nica- 
ragua, who arrived with a canoe-load of tobacco, 
&c. It was the padre's custom to collect a number 
of Indians round him by presents of the much- 
prized weed, and to seize, the opportunity for 
preaching to them in their own language (by no 
means a difficult one), and to baptize them indis- 
criminately. He soon left the country and went to 
Grey Town, and the only trace he left behind him 
was a few Christian names, the bearers of which 
seemed to be sensible of no change having come 
upon them, as they never could even have been 
taught the rudiments of the Christian verity. 

While at Blewfields I was shown an imperfect 
skin of a very curious little animal, rather larger 
than a good-sized rat : the short, soft fur was of a 
greyish colour, and the tail short and flattened, not 
unlike that of the beaver ; but the head and portions 
of the skin had been eaten away by ants and cock^ 



152 AM0HG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



roaches, the pests of the country. This creature is 
rarely seen, and then only at the water-side. 

The Moravian mission at Blewfields seems to be 
very prosperous ; both the schools and the church 
services seem to be very well attended on Sundays, 
and on week-days also. It is a pretty sight to see 
the people assembling for Sunday's religious teach- 
ing, the women in their neat, clean cotton dresses 
and white handkerchiefs ; the men, for the gene- 
rality, in white trousers and bright-coloured shirts, 
though some appeared in European coats, which, in 
my opinion, were not so much in character. The 
church, like everything else, had been blown down 
by the late hurricane, and was not yet rebuilt, so 
that the services were held in the school-house. 

A German colony was once established here, 
and had cleared a large space of ground behind the 
houses, but numbers had been carried off by disease, 
and the rest are now scattered, some at Grey Town 
and elsewhere, and some I afterwards met in 
Nicaragua. 

In my walks about the clearings I was struck by 
the infinite variety of butterflies ; but the only birds 
often seen, besides the universal buzzard or John 
Crow, were a few hawks, perched on the tall, bare, 
eboe trees, which stood alone upright amidst the 
general prostration, and a blackbird with a long tail 
and a peculiar note (Crotophaga sulcirostrisj, called 
by the Indians " pequil," in imitation of its cry. I 
observed also a species of finch ( Phenicotheanpis 
Eubicordes) which the Creoles call " ground sparrow," 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 153 



hopping about among the low bushes near the 
houses. Many melodious notes, especially in the 
early morning, came from the guava thickets, but 
I was unable to obtain a good view of these shy 
minstrels. 



154 



CHAPTER II. 

At daybreak on the morning of the 5th of Novem- 
ber, 1866, I started for Blewfields; or, as it is some- 
times called, from the Indian tribe that inhabits its 
banks, the Woolwa River. It flows into the north- 
ern extremity of the lagoon by many mouths lined 
with mangrove thickets, now destroyed by the 
hurricane ; in fact, many of these channels are com- 
pletely closed up by trees that have fallen across 
them, and by an accumulation of drift. 

For my journey, I had engaged a large pit-pan, 
or river canoe, and three men, at the following rates, 
as I did not know how long I should require them: 
Nash, head man, four shillings a day ; his son, and 
a mixed Moskito man, called Teribio (who was 
going home to his Woolwa wives— he had two at 
Kissalala), at three shillings each ; and the pit-pan 
one shilling. A lad also joined us to work a passage 
as far as Kissalala, the first Woolwa settlement, 
where his father, Hercules Temple, had a small 
trading-place. 

We embarked, and took in provisions at a point 
opposite the mission-house, and here I got a cup of 
hot chocolate from my head man, which was, I 
thought, very much better than the sweetened stuff 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 155 



called chocolate in Europe. After this delay, the men 
dashed their paddles into the water in earnest, shot 
rapidly across the northern corner of the lagoon, 
and entered one of the many channels between the 
mangroves leading to the main river ; after that, we 
went slower, as I wished to look out for birds to 
shoot and skin. When we had entered the main 
river, and cut a supply of sugar-cane, which here 
grows almost wild, and without which the inhabit- 
ants never think of going a day's journey, we set 
sail. The banks are very flat, the only elevations 
being one or two round hills standing a little way 
back on the left. The forest was a vast scene of 
destruction, nothing remaining after the hurricane 
but bleached stems and broken limbs of trees. 

The Blewfields people have many plantations 
a short distance up the river, which they visit from 
time to time to fetch provisions, and to plant what 
they require for the next season. I saw many more 
people here in coming down, as it was then the 
season for burning the bush, and making new pro- 
vision grounds, and also for grinding the sugar- 
cane. The birds most common were fish-hawks, 
which were very shy ; king-fishers of various sizes ; 
and small white and blue herons, or garlings, as the 
Creoles call them. 

We passed the night comfortably at a little 
bamboo-house on one of the plantations. Nash 
was very attentive in arranging some split bamboos, 
on which I might spread my blanket above the 
damp grounds Our supper was characteristic ; and 



156 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



I tasted several native dishes for the first time ; the 
principal was a large iguana lizard, which was very 
good eating, with boiled cassada : its flesh was re- 
markably white and tender. Whilst I lay down 
after supper, smoking my pipe, the men amused 
themselves with talking about our sea-captains, and 
their fights with the Spaniards. Another favourite 
theme was the clever ruse played by the English 
Colonel Courcy, and his European and American 
officers, upon Walker's filibusters. While the latter 
were watching the river (the San Juan), little 
expecting an attack from the land side, where they 
thought themselves sufficiently protected by the 
thickness of the bush, Colonel Courcy cut his way 
through the woods to the rear of their works, and 
took them completely by surprise. 

By dawn next morning we were again paddling 
up stream, under shadow of the bank. The river 
was like glass, and the only thing endowed with 
life to be seen through the slight mist that hung 
over the water, was the shadowy flight of a large 
grey crane we had disturbed at his early break- 
fast. On this morning I shot the first specimen of 
a handsome bird, called by the Creoles " yellow tail," 
(Ostinops Montezuma). We had dinner at a plan- 
tation belonging to one of Nash's relations, and 
enjoyed another good meal of iguana and cassada. 
I also discovered that a heron which I had shot was 
very good eating. In the afternoon we met a small 
pit-pan with four Woolwa, two men and two boys, 
paddling down to Blewfields. Their skins were of 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



157 



a warm reddish-brown colour, and the two men had 
very fine faces: they kept their canoe alongside, 
whilst speaking with Nash, by a most graceful 
movement of the paddles. Not long after, we passed 
the last plantation of the so-called Creoles, Nash 
pointing it out, and informing me that it belonged 
to him. I shot and skinned several birds on my 
way, but I had no idea, until a trial, of the 
difficulty of drying them, on account of the frequent 
showers. 

We continued our course through part of the 
night up the river, which is very serpentine; and 
when we reached the mouth of the Eusewass, called, 
in Nicaragua, Mico, we secured the canoe to the 
boughs of a swamp-wood that hung over the water, 
as there is no good place here for camping on the 
banks, and had rather an uncomfortable nap. We 
started again before day -break, but stopped about 
breakfast-time to boil some water and make tea, on 
a flat rock under the banks, which began to rise to 
some height, while the river became swifter and 
more picturesque. It was still early when we 
arrived at Kissalala, where the river is a rapid 
stream, flowing between high banks ; here we landed, 
and, after climbing the steep ascent, approached the 
first Indian lodge. Bowing my head, I stepped 
across the little trench, and passed under the low- 
hanging thatch. I found myself in what appeared 
quite another world of manners and customs, which 
made a strange impression upon me, so totally 
different was everything that I now saw from all 



158 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



my previous experiences of life. Since that time, I 
have learnt to feel quite as much at home in an 
Indian lodge as in any other place. 

But to return to my first introduction to the 
Woolwa. The only notice apparently taken of my 
arrival at the lodge by its inmates, was to motion 
me to one of the low cedar stools, which were the 
principal part of their furniture, and then I was left 
to make myself at home. The women, in their 
decidedly light apparel, continued to busy them- 
selves at the fires from time to time, stirring the 
contents of the large pots with long-handled 
wooden spoons, while the men went on tipping 
their arrows, carefully testing their straightness 
and balance by looking along them when held at 
arm's length. They relaxed somewhat, however, 
on receiving a present of tobacco, of which they 
are exceedingly fond, although they do not them- 
selves cultivate the weed. Our conversation then 
turned on the "old times," when the territory was 
under English protection, and u man-a-wars" fre- 
quently visited the coast. They said that a captain 
once came up the river as far as their settlement, 
and described him as having taken a sketch of the 
lodge, with the women in the a„ct of grinding corn. 
The man Teribio was given to talking of the 
"man-a-wars" men with whom he had been 
acquainted in those days, and he showed a great 
talent for imitation, by the thoroughly English way 
in which he used his fists. On one occasion, when 
some of his Woolwa guests became rather boisterous 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



159 



and quarrelsome, over a mishla feast he had pro- 
vided, he settled differences by knocking two or 
three of them over right and left, in the most 
approved fashion of the P.R. This mode of pro- 
ceeding gave him a great advantage over the 
Woolwa, who usually strike with their elbows. As 
a people, they are generally very peaceably dis- 
posed, seldom engaging in strife, although fre- 
quently intoxicated at their mishla feasts. On 
these occasions they generally amuse themselves 
with talking all together at the tops of their voices, 
when, of course, no one has the least chance of 
being heard. It seems to be a point of honour 
with them to give and then take a blow in turn, 
and not to try how often they can strike one 
another, as much as how long they can stand it. 
Although the elbowing is an awkward method, 
still the blows when delivered in this way, full upon 
the chest, have an ominously heavy sound. 

It seems probable that the curious custom of flat- 
tening the forehead, which so largely prevails among 
the aboriginal American tribes, had its origin in a 
desire to increase the characteristic formation of 
the head, which they naturally must consider the 
highest type of beauty. The Woolwa, however, 
do not practise this fashion to the same extent as 
the other Indian tribes ; and the hair, which is 
worn hanging to the eyebrows in front, grows 
so thickly that a casual observer would hardly 
notice any peculiar flatness of the skull. It is 
interesting to take note of the various effects pro- 



160 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



duced in the figures of the different races by their 
distinctive modes of life. Among the Woolwa, 
there is a large development about the arms and 
chest, whilst the lower parts of the body are often 
inclined to be squat. This is, doubtless, caused by 
their habit of spending much of their time in pad- 
dling, poling, and hauling their pit-pans up the 
creeks and rapid rivers. Indeed, they are as essen- 
tially canoe-men as the civilized Indians in the 
district of Matagalpa are pedestrians. The Woolwa 
places of burial are always in the vicinity of the 
river-banks, and are marked by a large, thatched 
shed, similar in its construction to the lodges 
inhabited by these Indians. This is built over the 
spot of interment, and the whole is sedulously kept 
clear of bush-growth. 

This tribe has a singular mode of playing with 
staves or short poles, which they grasp in the 
middle, and then, standing opposite each other, 
hold them at arms' -length, and strike each end 
alternately together with all their force. The oppo- 
nents are matched in pairs, and in appearance it 
rather reminds one of the old English quarter-staff 
play. The object of the game is to see which can 
keep up longest the continual strain upon the 
muscles of the arm, and ultimately strike the staff 
from the hand of the other. It is strange what a 
wide spread the childish game of " scratch-cradle" 
has. The Soumoo Indians apjDeared to me to carry 
it into far more complicated passages than we do. 
The Soumoo seemed frequently troubled with pains 



to fare- v/ipo 




SOUMQO 0RW00LWA INDIANS, DESCEN DING A RAPID IN A PIT-PAN 
■ - Central America. 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



161 



in the head and limbs. For the former ailment 
they were in the habit of tying a cord tightly 
round the head ; and for the latter, they flogged 
their limbs with a kind of nettle, until the skin was 
raised in bumps. 

The Woolwa have many strange customs attend- 
ant upon their coming of age. The young men 
have many physical ordeals to undergo before they 
are fully entitled to the privileges of man's estate. 
Among others, they have to bear heavy blows on 
the back, given with the elbows. This, although 
well enough for the strong, must press heavily on 
the weak. The rest are of a similar character, 
all being apparently dealt with the intention of 
ascertaining what amount of physical suffering they 
can endure. It seems probable that these customs 
are but the remnants of more useful exercises, cal- 
culated to strengthen and educate their bodies in 
the art of war, at a time when they were a more 
numerous and warlike people, and also to teach 
them that fortitude which is so highly esteemed 
among all the Indian tribes. The Woolwa must 
also be expert swimmers, as they usually bathe 
several times in the day ; but an opportunity rarely 
occurred of observing them in the water, for, when 
men or women wished to bathe, they usually 
stepped into one of the canoes which were moored 
at the landing-place, and dropped down the stream 
to some secluded spot, where they could go through 
their ablutions in privacy. 

I am quite certain that, during my sojourn 

M 



162 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



among them, these people enjoyed many a good 
joke at my expense, from the manner in which they 
would look at one another, say something in their 
own language, and laugh heartily. No doubt other 
travellers have found themselves in the same not 
very agreeable position of affording amusement to, 
if not successful in " astonishing the natives." 

The Woolwa, or Soumoo, as they always call 
themselves, and prefer to be so styled, have no chief 
of their own ; therefore, when any difficulties arise 
(which is not often the case), they go to Blewfields 
to settle them. They have no villages of any size, 
but live in lodges, grouped two or three together, 
and scattered at intervals along the main river and 
its tributaries. These lodges have no walls, but are 
open on all sides, which I did not find uncom- 
fortable in that hot climate, as they are sufficiently 
sheltered from the rain by the palm-leaf thatch, 
arranged to hang so low that one has to stoop 
in entering. This thatch has a very neat appear- 
ance, especially from the inside, which is usually 
decorated with the lower jaw-bones of the peccary 
and warry, or wild hog, &c, and also the bleached 
skulls of large fish. Sometimes there are stages 
made of split bamboo, for storing away dry maize 
and other things; and bows and arrows, the only 
weapons now in use among them of their own 
manufacture, are stuck into the binding of the thatch. 
The rest of the furniture consists of one or two 
wretched old guns, obtained from the traders in 
exchange for their canoes, india-rubber, and other 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



163 



articles, an axe, and a few rusty machetes; stones 
for grinding corn, earthenware pots of their own 
making, decidedly picturesque in shape, in which 
they cook their food, perhaps also a cast-iron one, 
bartered from the traders; some odd-looking little 
bags suspended under the eaves ; pieces of native 
cloth hanging on the supporting beams ; a cradle, 
with the dried claws of crabs and other things 
attached to it, that make a strange rattling noise 
when it is rocked — a sound often banishing the 
stillness of night. Four families generally inhabit 
each lodge, each having their fire in one of the 
corners, at which they do their own cooking, and 
sit round chatting. These lodges are usually sur- 
rounded by a number of the most miserable-looking 
curs imaginable, constantly on the watch for what 
they can steal. The Indians are very fond of 
taming wild animals for pets, and you seldom stop 
at a village where you do not see parrots, parro- 
quets, monkeys, or tame warry and peccary. At 
one place I saw a little boy running about with 
a tame otter, here called " water-dog." 

Having given this sketch of the manners and 
customs of the Woolwa Indians, I will now proceed 
with our journey. The following day we went to the 
next Woolwa settlement, a small village of about five 
families, and on our way we passed two rapids, at 
one of which we had to empty the pit-pan and haul 
it over the rocks. The Indians of this settlement 
were very good-natured, as I always found them, in 
helping us to carry the things up the steep bank to 



164 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



their lodges. The name of the eldest man was 
Kennedy, and, in fact, nearly all were known by 
some English cognomen, acquired in their visits to 
Blewfields. 

In the afternoon all the men came and sat 
down, conversing with Nash, and smoking tobacco 
I had given them out of one clay pipe (obtained 
from the traders), which they passed from one to 
the other. They seemed interested when I told 
them that other Indians, living far away to the 
, north, in quite a different sort of country, smoked 
in the same fashion, and were most civil and kind, 
knocking down the ripest oranges from the trees, 
and doing many other little things to please. 

I passed the night here, and next morning 
started again up the river. I saw very few birds 
at this place ; indeed, animal life seemed very 
scarce all along the river, whether from the effects 
of the gale or not, I cannot say. We proceeded up 
the river the rest of that day, but the weather 
changing for the worse, I thought it better to turn 
back to the first Woolwa settlement, where I pro- 
posed to remain until it became finer. Accordingly, 
next morning, we dropped down the river as far 
as Kissalala. As I expected to pass some time here, 
I settled with the head man and his companions ; 
so the trio returned in the pit-pan to Blewfields. 
Left alone in my large lodge, I soon found that the 
life of a solitary traveller is not an idle one, for 
having to be at once master and man, renders his 
position no sinecure. That afternoon I made my 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



165 



first attempt at cooking my own dinner, which 
consisted of rice, boiled with a few drops of cocoa- 
nut oil, and I flatter myself that it was a decided 
success. I like the flavour of the cocoa-nut better 
than that of the milk we use at home. A very 
welcome addition to my cassada and plantain were 
the birds I often shot in the morning, — some of 
them, especially the water-birds, such as herons 
and rails, being very fat and rich. I always con- 
cluded my repast with a good strong cup of tea, 
brewed in the Australian fashion, and then came 
the pipe, never a greater source of enjoyment than 
on such an occasion. Nash's son, who was staying 
here for a short time, often came into my lodge, 
and insisted, out of pure good-nature, on cooking 
my meals : he cooked rice deliciously with fresh 
cocoa-nut oil, but he was much too extravagant 
with the materials, for, having a long road before 
me, I was obliged to be economical. By the time 
I had been three days in my new home, I became 
used to this style of living. I lay down and rose 
up again with the sun, though occasionally I 
skinned a bird by the light of my bull's-eye, which 
I may remark, en passant, is a very bad sort of 
lamp for travellers. Game "appeared to be rather 
scarce, and this, like every other ground of com- 
plaint, was attributed to last year's hurricane. 
Mosquitos were not numerous — at Blewfields hardly 
any are to be seen ; but it was a long time before I 
became used to the ants, crickets, and cockroaches, 
whose crawling, scampering, and buzzing kept me 



166 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



awake for many a long hour; in fact, nothing can 
be more disagreeable than the habit the large flying 
cockroaches have of alighting on one's hair and 
getting their legs entangled : there is a consolation 
in knowing that they are easily killed. I used to 
find them dead around my blanket in the morning, 
from my haying filliped them away during the 
night. One morning, after being very much dis- 
turbed by the creeping of ants, I discovered that 
a colony of these little creatines had been employed 
in shifting their quarters to the blanket which had 
been rolled up for my pillow, and had already 
stored away a quantity of eggs in the folds. After 
this I always took the precaution of spreading my 
blanket close beside my fire, and was, for the 
future, very little troubled. 

While staying at Kissalala, I shot a number of 
small birds round the edges of a patch of ripe 
maize, or Indian-corn. At this season, also, 
numbers of beautiful glossy blackbirds, known 
to naturalists as Cassidix oryzivom, and called by 
the Woolwa Mook-ris (black-bird), used to resort 
here to eat the ripening corn. These, together 
with the pigeons which I shot in the trumpet-trees, 
made a very pleasant variation in my daily fare. 
There were also three very beautiful birds of the 
oriole kind, clothed in orange, yellow, and black, 
in different proportions, and called by the Creoles 
banana-birds. They enlivened the early morn- 
ings with their rich mellow notes, and often sang 
during the day, especially when the sun came out 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



167 



after a shower. I heard also, from time to time, 
strange notes in the recesses of the woods, but the 
bush was so interlined, by fallen trees being covered 
and matted together by convolvuli and other 
creeping plants, that it was impossible to penetrate 
into the woods for any distance, for the purpose of 
shooting the musicians. 

Among the most attractive of the small birds 
around the clearing, were two kind of finches : 
Kamphoccelus passerinii, and Kamphoccdus sanguino- 
lentus. In these species, the back above the tail 
was adorned with a most brilliant patch of scarlet 
feathers ; and the only noticeable difference between 
them was, that in the smaller the whole of the 
plumage, with the exception of the patch of 
feathers already mentioned, was of the deepest 
velvety black, while the larger variety had a band 
of red across the head. They were very lively 
in their movements, looking like a gleam of fire 
darting amidst the bright green foliages of the 
shrubs. The bird called by the Indians Pegua 
resembling the Mexican cuckoo, is a common bird 
on this river ; and its cry, from which the name is 
taken, uttered from time to time, as if in a tone 
of discontent, can be heard on all sides of the 
forests. The natives say that they utter this cry 
when unsuccessful in their search after insects. 

It is an exceedingly difficult bird to skin, and 
when hit, even with the smallest shot, the feathers 
usually fly off in a cloud. The large yellow-headed 
parrots and the macaws used to fly in pairs, high 



168 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



over-head, every morning, with loud cries, returning 
again in the evening to roost in the eboe trees at 
the back of the settlement, where they would chatter 
whilst the last rays of the setting sun appeared 
above the forest trees : then the fires in the lodges 
would blaze up brighter, and the Indians took their 
last meal, and afterwards spread their sheets of 
bark cloth for the night. The strange cry of a species 
of goat-sucker, "Who-a-you ? who, who, who-a-you? ; ' 
would come from the neighbouring corn patch, to be 
answered on the other side of the river, and then 
gradually would die away in the distance down the 
stream, and, if the night were very bright, the loud 
rattle of a kind of crake could be heard among the 
reedy sedges on the water side. In the early part 
of the night in wet weather the noise made by the 
frogs was almost deafening ; but later on no sound, 
except the occasional hoot of an owl, broke the 
universal stillness. 

I know of nothing so suggestive of reflection, 
tinged with a wholesome sadness, as thus to find 
oneself alone in the pathless wilderness, associating 
with a race utterly strange, not only in habits, but 
in appearance, and whose language, foreign to the 
ear, conveys no intelligence to the mind. Thus 
situated, one feels truly brought face to face with 
the Great First Cause of all, and to a}3preciate the 
full benefit of }:>rayer. New beauties and new 
meanings are seen and felt in Holy Writ where 
they had never been recognized before. As evening 
falls, the mellow light of the setting sun forms a 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 169 



glorious background to the giants of the forest ; un- 
familiar sounds arise from its recesses, and a great 
calm steals over the senses, not of sorrow or of joy, 
but peace, that seems to realize the words of the 
inspired writer, u They that weep as though they 
wept not, they that rejoice as though they rejoiced 
not, for the fashion of this world passeth away." 

But again the world closes round ; one is drawn 
back into its strife and turmoil, and all the newly- 
awakened solemn feeling is remembered only as a 
dream or bygone sensation. 

On the 14th of November the rains seemed re- 
gularly to have set in ; we had heavy showers every 
day, and I did not anticipate fine weather before 
Christmas, after which I was informed it would 
improve. The heaviest rains usually fall in June 
or July, accompanied by much thunder and light- 
ning. The river now began to rise rapidly, and I 
could get no fish. The Indians often brought me a 
large bunch of green plantains, for which I gave 
them some six strings of beads ; roasted in the 
embers, these were very good indeed. I have never 
tasted them anywhere cooked so well as the Indian 
women do them : they take great pains with them, 
turning them constantly, till, when they are done 
and broken open, the inside is quite soft, and smells 
like new bread. Cassada also is very nice when 
fresh, but as it does not keep, it is of little use for 
travelling. I was surprised to find that these 
Indians do not make flour or cakes from it, as they 
do elsewhere, but always either bake it in the embers 



170 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



or boil it with their meat. There is another root, 
coco, of which they seem very fond, but I could 
never bring myself to like it : they use it to thicken 
soup. 

It poured in torrents on the night of the 15th, 
and the roof of my lodge, which was very old, began 
to get leaky ; but the next day was fine, though the 
river was high, and the current swift and muddy. 
During the rains the Blewfields river rises with 
astonishing rapidity, and the current becomes very 
strong and turbid, bearing along its logs and trees. 
At Kissalala I have frequently watched the blue 
garlings (Ardea cceubea) perched on the floating 
masses, on which they allow themselves to be swept 
down the stream to a certain distance, when they 
take wing and ascend until they meet another up- 
rooted tree, on which to be rafted down the same 
distance, and so on, repeating the process again and 
again. 

Sometimes, while passing under the trees in a 
canoe, I have noticed notches cut out on the trunks 
at a great height, which I was told had been made 
on the occasion of a flood. At such seasons the 
upper part of the river becomes impassable, boiling 
and seething over the huge boulders that block up 
its bed. Several sjDecies of stinging flies used to 
frequent the lodge, and run about over the thatch, in 
search of the enormous hairy spiders that skulk 
away in the crevices. It was interesting to observe 
how easily these slender and elegantly-shaped wasps . 
would overcome the really formidable-looking 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



171 



spiders by pouncing upon them and stinging them. 
The strong legs of the spider immediately release 
their hold and become powerless, and they drop 
down at once upon the earthen floor, followed by 
the active fly, which then, after absenting itself for 
a brief space, apparently to explore, commences to 
drag home his gigantic prey, many sizes larger than 
himself. The lair of the wasp is generally a hole 
burrowed in the earth, but one that I frequently 
watched had taken up his abode in the hollow end 
of one of the bamboo rafters of the lodge. The 
natives say that the sting of this insect is very 
severe, as I was led to suppose from the deadly 
effect it had upon the spider so much larger than 
itself. 

A species of ant is a useful but somewhat 
troublesome insect, which invariably congregates 
in numbers. They are in the habit of marching 
in regular columns, but when they meet with what 
seems likely to make a good hunting-ground, — an 
Indian lodge, or a fallen tree, for instance, — they 
spread out in search of prey. Cockroaches, immense 
spiders, and other insects, and even animals, beat 
a speedy retreat at their approach; but those un- 
luckily cut off from safety by the converging 
detachments, are instantly covered by swarms of 
ants, and are bitten and stung to death. These 
ants have a peculiar aversion to wet, which seems 
rather strange, as their native atmosphere is exceed- 
ingly damp. When the Indians want to turn aside 
the tide of invasion from their houses, they take 



172 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



advantage of this peculiarity, by simply squirting 
mouthfuls of water at the head of the column. 
Many tales are told of sick persons having been 
much injured, as they lay helplessly in their ham- 
mocks, by these ferocious legions. There are also 
several species of solitary ants, sometimes of large 
size, generally seen on the stems and leaves of 
trees. The bite of some of these insects is much 
feared by the natives. On one occasion, a fire-ant, 
as it is designated, alighted on the front of my 
flannel shirt, and Temple filliped it off, with the 
remark that had it bitten me it would most pro- 
bably have caused a severe fever. Cockroaches, of 
various sizes and shapes, are one of the greatest 
pests of the country, and stow themselves away by 
myriads in every possible hiding-place : in your 
knapsack, behind the lining of your hat, even in 
the very pockets of your coat, whilst flattened and 
dried sjDecimens are to be met with in almost every 
other leaf of your pocket-book. After having been 
some time on this river, I was compelled to give 
up the luxury of brushing my hair, as every morn- 
ing I found that simply tapping the back of the 
brush over a fire caused myriads of minute cock- 
roaches to fall in showers from the hairs, where 
they had comfortably ensconced themselves during 
the night, doubtless finding the position a covert 
much to their taste. The odour peculiar to the 
cockroach kind, with which the brush became 
impregnated, was so unendurable, that I had to 
content myself with only passing a comb through 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



173 



my hair. When a heavy shower fell, these pests 
might be seen swarming into the lodge from the 
bush beyond, in order to secure the shelter of the 
thatch. It was perfectly useless to wage war upon 
such a host. It was almost impossible to cover up 
the provisions over-night sufficiently to prevent 
them from devouring a large portion, and rendering 
the remainder uneatable, from being so much 
crawled over. They were by no means particular 
in their tastes, and especially relished the paper 
labels off bottles. 

There were visitors of importance staying at 
Teribio's lodge, on the other side of the place, but 
I did not know who they were until they had 
returned to Blewfields, although they were some- 
times kind enough to send me a nice mess of iguana, 
with plantain, roast, boiled, and mashed. Teribio 
afterwards told me that they were the old queen, 
Princess Victoria, and the Creole wife of the late 
king. 

I often went out shooting in a small pit-pan 
with a handsome young fellow, named Freshwater, 
who was the eldest son of a decidedly plain, but 
very good-tempered little woman. On such expedi- 
tions an Indian is more useful than any other man. 
It was wonderful how noiselessly Freshwater would 
drive the canoe through the water. When he saw 
anything he would give a low grunt, point it out, 
and wait quietly till I observed it, and then follow 
the direction indicated by a motion of the hand as 
silently as possible. He always carried with him 



174 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



his bow and fish-arrows, to strike the fish when 
he saw them lying under the sunken logs in clear 
water. My little English terrier, Jack, was now 
becoming quite expert in finding birds that fell 
in the thickets, but I was obliged to keep quite 
close to him to prevent his tearing them. Of this 
trick I could not break him. 

Time slipped away quickly in the various occu- 
pations of shooting and skinning birds, chopping 
wood, and cooking. A little Indian boy, brother to 
Freshwater, attracted probably by the handful of 
sugar I sometimes gave him, used to visit me during 
my culinary operations: the confidential air he 
assumed, while he stood on the opposite side of the 
fire, was very amusing. He used to chatter in the 
strange Soumoo language, evidently imagining that 
I understood all he said, and would nod and grunt 
his assent in a most satisfied manner when I replied 
to him in English. The little fellow seemed hardly 
to have recovered from the flattening of the fore- 
head to which the tribe subject their infants; his 
eyes were still very prominent, and had a peculiar 
staring expression, which I have noticed in the eyes 
of most Indian boys. He seemed to have a great 
affection for annuals, and, when running about, had 
usually some little pet attached to the end of a 
string — sometimes it was a large kind of mole- 
cricket, which every now and then buried itself in 
the ground, only to be dragged out again by the 
cotton-thread tied to one of its stout legs ; at other 
times a little bright-eyed iguana, or a karkee, a 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 175 



little creature resembling a rabbit. On one occasion 
his foot was severely bitten by a young otter with 
which he was racing about. Altogether, this little 
Indian was one of the oddest children I have ever 
met with. I shall never forget the look of terror 
depicted in his face when some of the girls pretended 
to drag him towards the large black morose howling 
monkey, Almook, as they call him, which was 
tied in a corner of the lodge, during the time I 
possessed him. This howler seemed to be held 
before the eyes of the dusky youngsters of the 
settlement in much the same manner as the unfor- 
tunate police at home are by nursemaids, to frighten 
their charges into obedience. 

When preparation was being made for hunting 
expeditions, the peculiar noise made by the women 
in grinding their maize on rough stones often con- 
tinued far into the night; and as I lay awake, I 
was forcibly reminded of the " sound of the grinding" 
mentioned in Scripture. The grinding-stone used 
by the Woolwa is also used by the Nicaraguans, 
who call it metlate, evidently an aboriginal word. 
After the maize has been thus prepared, it has the 
consistency of thick paste, and is taken by travelling 
parties in their canoes, folded up in ivaha, or banana 
leaves: the former is generally selected for this 
purpose, as it is much tougher, and not so liable to 
split. When kept more than a day or two, the smell 
of this paste becomes sour to a sickening degree ; 
and when requiring it for a journey, I always made 
a point of having it stowed away as far back as 



176 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



possible in the stern of the canoe. The Indians 
usually halted at mid-day, in some shady spot, in 
order to enjoy it ; on which occasions it was pre- 
pared for drinking by simply squeezing and mixing 
a handful or two of the paste in a calabash of water : 
at other times it is rolled in a leaf, and baked in the 
embers, which mode of cooking renders it by no 
means unpalatable. One thing which struck me 
much was to hear the little Indian children 
addressing their mothers precisely as European 
children do, and running to them with the familiar 
cry of " Mum-ma." 

A few months before I came to Kissalala, a dark 
tragedy must, from the rumours I gathered, have 
been enacted up the Eusewass tributary. The reports 
I had heard were contradictory, but the facts seem 
to hay e been much as follows: — Some Spaniards, from 
the state of Honduras, I believe, had ascended the 
Rusewass for some distance, and had built houses 
and established themselves in order to collect india- 
rubber. The Woolwa of that river then demanded 
payment for the clearings and maize plantations 
that the Spaniards had made. This being refused, a 
dispute arose, in which the Indians, having threatened 
the others with their arrows, had one of their number 
wounded with a machete-cut ; on which they with- 
drew, but some time after, they planned a night 
attack upon their enemies. Surrounding the -place 
when least expected, they are said to have " clubbed" 
every one, leaving none alive to tell the tale. It is 
probable that should the Nicaraguans attempt to 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



177 



occupy the country, there would be many such 
instances, as the Woolwa, and other inland tribes, 
would be easily influenced by the more warlike 
Moskitos. 

The Indian dogs of this country are the most 
atrocious-looking curs that can be possibly ima- 
gined. Their shapes are often extraordinary, but 
never graceful ; and one especially struck me as 
remarkably hideous. It was a rusty-black brute ; 
all the bones of its long, thin body appeared 
distinctly beneath the skin ; and this body was set 
on legs so short, that it scarcely kept clear of the 
ground. The fore legs were so bent in, that the 
beast walked more upon the joint than on the 
foot, which was armed with formidable claws like a 
bear; and, to complete its repulsiveness, it had a 
most villainous leer in its bluish-grey eyes, as it 
would look up in my face and snarl when dis- 
turbed in the act of thieving. The Indians seem 
rarely to feed their dogs, and, therefore, they 
are continually prowling about, to pick up a living 
by Avhat they can manage to steal. On this 
account, I was the more surprised that the miril, 
or Indian women, should take such a fancy to my 
little English terrier, Jack, as to feed and pet him ; 
but I suppose the honest, good-tempered expression 
in his intelligent brown eyes contrasted favourably 
with the sneaking looks of their own curs. 

Nothing appeared so much to astonish and 
amuse the Indians as to look through my powerful 
telescope. Sometimes I set the focus for the other 

N 



178 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



side of the river, in the direction of some cattle 
belonging to Teribio, which had strayed away ; 
by their great weight they had broken through the 
jungle, and were now inhabiting a sort of yard 
amid the impenetrable thickets on the hill-side, 
formed by the fallen trees that were covered and 
interlaced by bushes, vines, and convolvuli. It 
seemed quite a marvel to the Indians to be able to 
discern the slightest movements of their sleek, well- 
fed beasts, although it was still out of their power 
to secure them. 

A curious native drink is made here from ripe 
Indian corn, parched over the fire in an old pot; 
then ground fine, and mixed in water sweetened 
with syrup. It is cooling and refreshing, but the 
dry particles occasion a tickling sensation in the 
throat ; and unless it be continually stirred during 
the act of swallowing, one gets little but sugar and 
water. When the Woolwa women present the 
calabash, or drinking-bowl, to their guests, the offer 
is invariably proffered three times- before the same 
ceremony is gone through with the next person. 

On the 19th I received an agreeable surprise, in 
the shape of letters from home. Mr. Liindberg 
kindly forwarded them up the river by some 
Woolwa who were returning to their settlement. I 
immediately left the bird I was skinning, that 
I might get my dinner early, and be able to enjoy 
the luxury of reading my letters over a cup of tea 
and a pipe. 

I usually went out shooting on the river in the 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



179 



mornings. Some of the birds are very hard to kill 
with small shot ; and of this I had proof one after- 
noon, for I fired four into a fish-hawk on a tree, 
knocking out a cloud of feathers at each shot; 
but after all, he managed to escape into the neigh- 
bouring thickets. One of the men brought me 
a snowy-white falcon, which he had slightly 
wounded in the shoulder, whilst up the Kusewass 
looking for rubber. It was one of the most beau- 
tiful creatures I had ever seen ; its feathers being of 
the purest white, with the exception of the extreme 
tips of the wing feathers, which were black : there 
was a bar of the same across the tail. The eyes 
were large, dark, and of a wonderful brilliancy. I 
kept him tied to an eboe-log in the corner of the 
lodge, and do what I would, whenever I looked 
towards him, I found his lustrous eyes following 
me with an imperturbable stare. I was extremely 
sorry to find that his wound was mortifying ; so, to 
give the noble bird a chance of life, I cut the cord 
that bound him, and he stole away into the thickets. 

The kind of canoe principally used on the 
coast and the deeper parts of the river is called by 
the natives a dory. Having a keel, it requires a 
greater draught of water than the pit-pan, which is 
for the rapid and shallow parts of the river, since it 
is nearly flat-bottomed and square at both ends, 
which project above the water. Both these canoes 
are cut out of solid cedar-trees. The pit-pan is very 
thick-bottomed, which renders it capable of sus- 
taining very rough usage in hauling it over the 



180 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



rocks at the portages ; it has also a square mortice- 
hole cut in the stem, through which a pole may be 
thrust when it is necessary to moor it. The dis- 
tinguished visitors who had been staying here 
returned about this time to Blewfields. The old 
queen, grandmother to the little chief William, was 
evidently the most important personage ; she was 
a very fine old woman, and appeared very vigorous 
for her years as she marched down the pathway 
leading from the steep bank to the canoe, where she 
took her place in the middle. The widow of the 
late king took a forward paddle, and a young 
Moskito man the stern ; the rest of the space was 
occupied by the children, the plantains, and other 
provisions. The " old queen," as the people call her, 
was of the pure Moskito race, with fine, high 
features, but much darker in colour than most of the 
Woolwa. 

I now engaged a thick-set old Woolwa, with 
whom I went a long way down the river in quest of 
birds. I shot the first specimen I had seen of the 
large handsome bittern (Tigrisoma cabanisi), which 
the Indians call ivouJcee. I often afterwards made 
a meal of them, as I found them fat and well- 
flavoured. They are not numerous on the river. I 
shot a great many, at a later period, in the creeks on 
the coast to the north of Pearl Cay lagoon. In the 
evenings the men of the settlement usually returned 
with a heavy load of dry logs for fire-wood, pro- 
cured from the dry drift-wood on the banks of the 
river, which they split into suitable lengths for 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



181 



burning. They used the axe exceedingly well, with 
great strength and gracefulness. The women then 
made up the fire and prepared the meal, which is 
brought to the men as they sit and talk. When 
sleeping in the Indian lodges, I used constantly to 
hear the peculiar slapping noise, indicating an 
onslaught upon the swarming insect plagues that 
settled on the skins of the recumbent Indians ; 
these sounds becoming more frequent just before 
dawn, when the sand-flies turned out in force, at 
which time the men would get up, make the fire, 
and have a chat before they lay down again. Old 
Temple, too, would rise from his hammock, light his 
half-smoked pipe (he never smoked his pipe out at 
one sitting) with a brand from the fire, and then 
turn in again. On the 25th my solitude was some- 
what broken in upon by the arrival of a dory from 
Blewfields, full of Creoles, among whom was a trader, 
by name Hercules Temple, to whom I have alluded 
before ; the other men he had engaged to collect 
india-rubber. These people gave unmistakable 
signs of their African origin; Temple fiddling 
away a good part of the night, whilst his son 
accompanied him on the top of an empty barrel, 
was a contrast to the quiet of the Indian part of the 
encampment. The new-comers, however, were very 
pleasant neighbours, and most obliging. Temple 
himself was nearly black, with crisp hair, like many 
of the Blewfields Creoles ; he assured me that his 
mother was an Indian woman of the Toongla tribe. 
The morning after his arrival he gave me a piece of 



182 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



bread, which proved quite a treat, after having been 
without it for such a length of time. On the morn- 
ing of the 26th, shortly after sun-rise, the whole of 
the population went off like a flock of birds, some 
up and some down the river, leaving the Blewfields 
trader, his son, and myself alone in the place — - 
perhaps they did not much like their noisy visitors ! 
These Indians have so little baggage, that before 
you know of their intention to set out on an expedi- 
tion they have already made the start. During 
their absence I went up the little creek which flows 
into the river just below the settlement, and shot a 
strange-looking owl (Syrinum perspicillatum). I 
also made my first attempt at paddling, with which 
I soon became familiar in the course of the different 
expeditions with Temple, from whom I had pur- 
chased a paddle. 

The miserable curs hanging about the place gave 
me much annoyance, by tearing down the bird-skins 
that were put out for drying in the sun, so that often 
when I came in from shooting I had nothing left of 
the best skins save a few scattered feathers. Temple 
did me many little kindnesses ; sometimes, when he 
saw that I had been cooking nothing but plantain 
for dinner, either a nice dish of iguana, a cake of 
bread, or a calabash of ripe plantain " pop" which 
I found very good when sweetened with sugar. 

The last week in November was very fine, with 
a continuance of dry northerly winds. Temple often 
came into the lodge I occupied to have a chat, 
seating himself on one of my boxes ; he was very 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



183 



much interested in my little sketch-book containing 
figures of Indians of different tribes, and was never 
tired of talking about it to the Woolwa, causing 
much merriment by his explanation of the differences 
of costume, &c, which he had gathered from me 
by questioning in a very self-complacent, dictatorial 
manner. I often gave him the monkeys and birds 
I had shot ; in return for which he would send me 
some mess for dinner, much better cooked than 
what I could manage myself. 

What struck me most about these Creoles was 
the respectful way in which the son always ad- 
dressed the father, invariably affixing " sir" to his 
answers. 

The Sunday in a foreign land is a day which, 
in all its loneliness, always brings to a traveller 
thoughts of home. In this retired spot, with no 
countryman near, I appreciated more fully than I 
had ever done before the beautiful prayers and 
collects of our Church, especially when those for 
the first Sunday in Advent came round, bringing, 
as they did, old times very forcibly to my mind. 

After this fine weather, the river had much sub- 
sided, enabling me to catch many good fish, and 
thus to supply myself with a little variety in the 
way of fare. There is one fish that I feel sure 
would afford good sport to the fly-fisher; the 
Woolwa are very expert in taking it with a hook, 
baited with a green grasshopper, which they catch 
in the long grass on the bank ; this they tie to the 
end of a very long line attached to a switch rod, 



184 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



which they flick and cast about over the water, and 
letting it sink, presently raise it with a peculiar 
movement of the wrist. They seem to know the 
exact spot where the fish lie, and dexterously send 
the bait a long distance under the over-hanging 
branches of the swamp-wood bushes that shadow 
the deep still pools. 

There was a very good place for bathing just 
above the settlement, from which it was concealed 
by a thick swamp-wood tree; beneath which was 
a piece of rock, from whence I took headers. Some 
of the evenings were so calm and mild, the river 
being like a mirror, that a swim was delightful. 
The first time I struck out into the stream, the 
Indians all clustered on the high sloping bank, 
seemingly quite amazed to see that a white man 
could swim. Temple increased their wonder by 
telling them that I could do much more, but that 
I was rather sick that night, ' and expatiated upon 
the difference between mine and the native stroke. 
Alligators, although numerous, are not at all for- 
midable in this river, except to the dogs, of which 
they take a great many. The Indians here lost 
every one of theirs during my stay. They are 
generally taken while swimming on shore to chase 
the JcarJcee wastusa, or Indian rabbit, into the 
hollow trees, where it is transfixed by the arrows 
of the Indians. I expected to have fallen in with 
the Honduras turkey; but after much inquiry, came 
to the conclusion that it did not come so far south, 
although Temple led me to suppose that it did, by 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 185 



his description of feathers worn by the Indians 
from the savannahs high up the river. These 
savannahs, however, I discovered afterwards only 
to have existed in the old man's imagination, the 
whole course of the river lying through forest. 

On the 1st of December I paddled down below 
the rapids with Hercules Temple and his son. The 
latter was a handsome, saucy lad, with a smooth 
black skin, and a bushy head of hair. He, like 
his father, could shoot a fish or iguana Avith an 
arrow as well as any Soumoo. There were not 
many birds to be seen — but we killed two monkeys ; 
a very welcome addition to our provisions, as we 
had been for some time short of meat, and all the 
Indians were absent. The thicket which had sprung 
up in the shattered woods was in such a tangled 
state that we were obliged to cut a road with a 
machete (a weapon that Temple knew well how 
to use) up to the tree where we had observed our 
game. One of the monkeys, shot with an Eley's 
cartridge (of which I should advise every traveller 
to take a good supply), hung from the bough long 
after it was dead. We began to despair of our 
dinner. At last, however, Melville (Temple's son) 
succeeded in climbing, and shaking the animal 
down. It was here that I noticed for the first time 
the kind of bush-rope which gives water when 
broken. I snapped one in making an abortive 
attempt to mount the tree : a small stream of pure 
water issued immediately from the fracture. Temple 
told me that men who have been accidentally 



186 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



"bushed" for days have found great relief from 
its use. 

Three kinds of monkeys are usually seen in 
these forests. The monkey that we had caught 
was called by the Creoles the red monkey; it has 
four fingers on the hands, and is the variety that 
is generally eaten. Besides this, there is a smaller 
kind ; black, with a white face ; and the third is 
the black howler, which utters a cry not unlike a 
tiger's howl, and is especially vociferous before 
rain. The first time I heard it I was puzzled to 
imagine what the noise could possibly be, and my 
terrier, Jack, was even more bewildered than 
myself. The Indians who were paddling the 
canoe with me pointed to the large limb of a 
silk cotton tree that stretched over the water, and 
there I saw the howler, lying supinely along the 
branch, with only his black-bearded face visible. 
We did not disturb him, but passed on under the 
bough, while he followed us listlessly with his 
eyes. 

On the 4th, some of the Indians returned from 
their hunting and fishing, and I was able to get 
a fresh supply of cassada and plantain, of which, 
for the last day or two, I had been quite out of 
stock. I should, without this timely arrival, have 
been obliged to live entirely upon the few birds and 
fish I had been able to obtain. 

About this time I thought of going down the 
river to the Rama mouth, and ascending that branch 
in quest of birds; as here -they were scarce, and 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 187 



I desired to make up a case to send off by the 
December or January mail from Grey Town, before 
I went further into the interior. One day, while 
paddling up the river with a big Indian named 
Jackson, we passed under the tree in which I had 
seen the howler on a former occasion ; but this 
time as we were passing under the limb where 
he still lived, he made such mocking grimaces, and 
hooted us so, that I sent a shot at the face, taking 
him fair in the forehead, with one of Eley's wire 
cartridges. At that distance it went almost like 
a bullet, knocking him head over heels with a 
splash into the water beneath, where he disappeared. 
In another minute he came to the surface, and 
struck out gallantly for the bank, but we intercepted 
him, and succeeded in getting him into the canoe. 
He again slipped into the water on the other side, 
and swam for shore, but we caught him, and this 
time I secured him with my leather shot-belt, and 
so got him home. The Creoles call this monkey 
" baboon," the Indians, almook (old man), and 
they seem to consider him a sort of wild man of 
the woods, or rather a devil, and refuse to touch 
or even to approach him. I brought my captive 
into my lodge, as he did not seem to be severely 
hurt, the small shot not having penetrated the 
thick skull ; and next day he ate some banana I 
offered him. He had a beautiful coat of the richest 
brown, deepening almost to black on the back, and 
a long black beard. These baboons, being very 
morose in temper, are not kept as pets ; but I thought 



188 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



it might have been acceptable in the Zoological 
Society's Gardens. 

We had had lately many heavy squalls of wind 
and rain, and on the 8th a violent storm swept 
through my sideless lodge, thoroughly wetting the 
skins I had dried, and carrying away with it 
various articles. The old roof bent in such a 
threatening manner that both Temple, who was 
with me, and I thought it must come down, and 
accordingly I ran to the windward side to get clear 
of its fall ; but the squall passed over as suddenly as 
it came. I was obliged to remove my fire to 
another side of the lodge. Many of the patchings of 
waha leaves had been blown off the corner where 
it had hitherto remained, and the rain came in 
while I was lying by the fire-side at night, wetting 
my blanket to a very unpleasant degree. The 
river again rose very much, and large pieces of 
timber floated past. I was not now in want of 
anything to eat, as the women constantly brought 
me in plantain, Indian corn, or messes of meat ; for 
which I gave them beads. The only thing I missed 
very much was butter, but I found that fresh cocoa- 
nut oil was by no means a bad substitute when 
it could be obtained ; without something of the sort 
the corn and plantain are rather insipid. Muscovy 
ducks are not common, but I occasionally met with 
them, once shooting one at the settlement, which 
Temple had seen pitch among the bushes on the 
other side of the river, in some standing water 
that had been left by the flood. Teribio, who had 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



189 



now returned from the upper part of the river, gave 
an excellent account of the forest there, saying that 
it had not been " mashed up" by the hurricane. 

A grand mishla feast was now about to take 
place, and the women were busy preparing the 
drink for some days beforehand : this is a very dis- 
gusting process, but is, I believe, connected with 
their religion (what that may be I do not know). 
These feasts, however, are carried on with a certain 
amount of decorum, different from the jolliness 
with which they hold carousals with drinks made 
from banana, sugar-cane, &c. Mishla is the general 
name for all kinds of drinks ; but unless some other 
name is added to it, it is supposed to mean what 
is made from cassada. When the Indians intend 
to give one of these feasts or ceremonies, the whole 
community club together, and collect a large 
quantity of the cassada root, which the young 
women then commence chewing, spitting it after- 
wards into an earthen pot. When their jaws get 
so tired that they are obliged to desist, they boil 
the remainder, and, after mixing the whole, let it 
stand foi a' day or two, until it has fermented, 
keeping it stirred and skimmed. People are in- 
vited to come from a great distance to attend these 
festivals, on which occasions they are to be seen 
in their full costume of paint, feathers, and beads. 
Some wear a coronet made of the curly head- 
feathers of the curassow, which often looks very 
tasteful ; also a cord round the upper part of the 
arm, from which flutter feathers of the macaw and 



190 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



downy owl, and tlie yellow tail-feathers of the Osti- 
nops Montezuma. The men decorate their necks 
with small opaque beads, procured from the Blew- 
fields traders, and worked by themselves into long 
pendent bands, often of very pretty patterns ; these 
hang down in front of the body, and tassels of white 
beads fastened to a broad collar of similar work to the 
bands, depend from the back. The u toumoo" or 
" pulpra" as the Moskitos call it, is a cloth worn 
by the men round the waist, the ends of which hang 
down between the legs, generally below the knees, 
and with some of the young dandies reaches to the 
ground. This " toumoo" like the sheeting in which 
they wrajD themselves at night, is made of the bark 
of a tree, beaten out by the women on a smooth 
log, with a mallet shaped like a club : there are 
grooves in this, which give it a texture and the 
appearance of a mesh. They are also made some- 
times of a very stout and handsome cotton material, 
dyed in many colours, and woven into tasteful 
devices, occasionally mixed with the down and 
feathers of birds. These do not seem to be much 
in present use, probably from the time and labour 
expended in the manufacture. The women, on full- 
dress occasions, wear a great quantity of beads 
round the neck ; but, unlike the men, they do not 
work them into designs, only putting on the bunch 
as they receive it from the trader, fastening the ends 
at the back of the neck. They must be greatly 
inconvenienced at such times by the weight 
of their ornaments, for I have seen the young 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



191 



women with sucli a mass of differently coloured 
beads round their necks, as to occupy the whole 
space from the bosom to the chin, and quite pre- 
venting them from turning their heads ; they wear 
a j)etticoat reaching below the knees, made of either 
their own bark-cloth, or gaily-hued printed cottons, 
obtained from the traders ; these are wrapped round 
the loins, and tucked in on one side above the hip. 
When " dressed" for company, they make the upper 
part of the body a deep vermilion, a colour extracted 
from the pod of an arnatto shrub ; it is found between 
the seeds, and when required is taken out and 
collected in a little calabash, to be ready for use. 
When rubbed into the skin it inrparts to it a 
soft and glossy look. The females do not paint the 
face in broad bands of black and red streaks and 
blotches like the men ; but have, instead, three or 
four very fine lines drawn evenly across the nose 
and cheeks. In spite of the seemingly endless 
variety of design in vogue with the men, Temple 
assured me that they each have a recognized 
meaning. I saw a Woolwa at Kissalala who had 
his hair arranged in a very curious fashion ; it was 
tied up behind much in the same way as the old 
European queue, but this was the sole example of 
such a mode that attracted my notice. 

On the present occasion, the Indians drank 
mishla all that day and the next, according to their 
custom, that they might leave none. During the 
drinking, one of the party went round the circle 
from time to time, singing a sort of monotonous 



192 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



chant, beating a drum, formed from one of the 
joints of a large bamboo, to the accompanying notes 
of a flute of bamboo. Young Freshwater once, 
in making his tour, stopped in front of me, and 
I could not help smiling at his dolorous expression ; 
but he stood still, and looked at me with unmoved 
gravity. This melancholy chant, or tune, seems to 
be the only Indian music, and in my subsequent 
journeys 1 often heard it whistled or hummed, 
when the Indians lay down for the night by the 
fireside, wrapped in their bark sheeting. 



193 



CHAPTER III. 

On the morning of the 14th I started for the Kama 

branch (which is an easy day's journey from Kissa- 

lala) in a canoe, with a young Woolwa from an 

upper settlement, Melville Temple, and a Woolwa 

boy. We dropped slowly clown the river, and had 

to camp for the night on a very wet bank among 

the reeds, there being no better place to be found in 

the neighbourhood ; fortunately, the night was fine. 

We rigged my mackintosh sheet (a most useful thing 

for travellers as long as it lasts, especially in wet 

climates) as a tent, and spread the damp ground 

with a layer of reeds cut with the machete. After 

enjoying a good supper and a smoke, we lay down 

under it ; but, having encamped in the very haunts 

of the frogs, we were unable to sleep for the first 

hour or two, as they seemed to express, by a greater 

degree of noise than usual, their indignation at 

being thus intruded upon. The Indians laughed 

heartily when I called out to them as loudly as I 

could to "shut up," and the reptiles themselves 

seemed very much astonished at the unwonted order, 

for they ceased their drumming and shrieking, and 

there was a dead silence for some minutes. During 

o 



194 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



this lull the Woolwa said they could hear a jaguar 
on the opposite hill, but, though I listened atten- 
tively, I was unable to distinguish any sound, 

We entered the Kama mouth early next morning : 
the view was much prettier than that in the mouth 
of the Rusewass, which we had passed the day 
before, and would have been beautiful had not all 
the trees been broken by the hurricane. The forest 
foliage in this part of Tropical America has a wild 
grandeur, very different from the gentle loveliness of 
our own northern woodlands, but I am not sure that 
the comparison is altogether in favour of the former : 
much of what is there gained in variety and im- 
mensity of its mighty trees, is rather marred in 
symmetry by the wild, matted tangle of flowering 
vines, and by the multitude of other parasites, which 
blend the whole into one gorgeous mass of flowers 
and leaves ; whereas our oaks, elms, and beeches 
stand out in individual completeness and beauty of 
form. 

We paddled on slowly up the river, shooting 
birds and iguana, which latter were more numerous 
here than on any other stream I know of ; the over- 
hanging trees, and the bamboo with which the 
lower parts of the river were clothed, were covered 
with them : they continually dropped from the 
branches into the water, just in front of the canoe, 
with a loud splash, like a shower of heavy fruit 
shaken off by the wind. The principal birds were 
several kinds of herons and kingfishers. We con- 
tinued on until late in the afternoon without finding 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



195 



a good camping place, the banks being everywhere 
low, and covered with bamboo thickets thrown into 
great confusion by the hurricane. A short distance 
up the Rama there is a very remarkable conical hill, 
standing rather far back, called by the Woolwa, 
Assan-uka. 

At length we arrived at a place where some 
Indians had slept the night before, and my Indians 
soon repaired their tvaha shelter. The waha is a 
large leaf, not unlike that of the banana in shape, 
but much tougher in texture ; the tree grows in 
damp ground, by the banks of rivers. The Woolwa 
are very ingenious in hitching the leaves together 
by their own split stalks to supports of bamboo, or 
other poles, often those used to pole ujo the shallows, 
thus forming in a few minutes a shelter that will 
endure throughout a night's heavy rain or dew. 

The next day being Sunday, I took a leisurely 
breakfast, and did not start away till late. We 
paddled along during the afternoon, Melville and 
the Indians shooting iguana with their arrows for 
our evening meal. That evening we camped com- 
fortably on a flat rock at the foot of the first rapids. 
A camp fire should never here be built on a rock 
without first covering the bare surface with mould, 
or there will be danger of explosion as soon as the 
rock beneath becomes heated. Once, having neglected 
to take this precaution, I was startled, as I lay on 
my blanket at no great distance, by a sudden loud 
report ; the fire, together with fragments of rock, 
was scattered about in all directions, and a monkey, 



196 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



as well as some plantain which was roasting for 
dinner, was sent flying off into the river. 

During our evening meal we scented an alligator, 
the proximity of which is always known by a strong 
odour of musk (like some European belles); and 
knowing their partiality for dogs, of which the 
native brutes are well aware, I was obliged to keep 
Jack close beside me. I remember an instance of 
the terror the canine race have for alligators: a dog 
belonging to Temple had a great dislike to the 
water, and one day, when he threw it into the river, 
it alighted near a dry rock; on this it immediately 
scrambled, refusing to return to the land, and it was 
only by practising on the animal's fears that his 
master succeeded in bringing him back. Taking 
advantage of a minute when the dog was looking in 
another direction, Temple hurled a piece of turf 
into the water, and the delinquent, thinking it was 
one of his enemies in pursuit, dashed into the water, 
and swam ashore at his utmost speed. 

This part of the river is not without a sort of 
gloomy beauty ; bamboo had become less common, 
and the banks, from which hung in heavy masses 
the foliage of gigantic swamp-woods, rose to a much 
greater height. These swamp-wood trees are a 
favourite resort of large iguana lizards, which lie on 
the thick boughs. That afternoon, when the men 
were trying to shake one into the canoe, which had 
been transfixed by an arrow, we were rather startled 
to perceive that a large and very venomous snake 
was coiled on the same bough. An energetic stroke 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 197 



with the paddles, however, when we were aware of 
the danger, carried us out of harm's way. 

Next day we proceeded some distance further, 
and passed an abrupt cliff of rock on the left bank, 
rising perpendicularly from the water, which ap- 
peared very deep at its base. The current soon 
became very strong, and as we were in a very 
heavy old canoe, I determined to halt. Near this 
point we fell in with a number of whistling ducks 
(Anas autumnalis), seated in a row on a half-sub- 
merged tree. Having shot one of them, the whole 
flock flew round and round the wounded bird, until 
we had secured five more. On turning back to 
commence our homeward journey, we met two pit- 
pans occupied by women who were going to the 
first settlement on this river, which is a little higher 
up. They had been fetching provisions from one of 
their plantations in the vicinity. I stoj^ped them 
and bartered some birds for cassada, after which 
we continued our downward course. The Indian 
settlements here are few in number, and very high 
up. The lower part does not suit the Woolwa, who 
love to rear their houses on the elevated banks 
above the river, although I believe they used to live 
much lower down. That night we stopped at one 
of our old camping places, and the next day con- 
tinued our course under a broiling sun, there being 
no shade to rest beneath, as the banks were very 
low, with nothing but bamboo thickets on either 
side. By the time evening came on we had left the 
Rama, and arrived at a small rocky island in the 



198 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



middle of the main river, called by the Woolwa 
Assan-darkna, where we camped. The next morn- 
ing we were soon on the water, and reached Kissalala 
early. I was very glad to get back to my old lodge, 
as dming the last day, though I paddled along 
resolutely, I felt decidedly feverish ; indeed, I believe 
that nothing prevented me from becoming worse 
but the large quantity of sugar-cane I used. The 
morning after my return my headache was gone, 
but it left me very weak. This drawback, however, 
did not deter me from going out on the river as 
usual. 

I now made an arrangement with Hercules 
Temple to go with me into the interior, my purpose 
then being to ascend as far as possible up this river, 
which everybody, both here and on the coast, de- 
clared would bring me into the Spanish savannahs ; 
then to strike north, skirting the Spanish settlements, 
until I reached the head- waters of the Wauks or 
Patook, descend one of these rivers to the coast, and 
so back to Blewfields, at which place I calculated 
to arrive by the end of the dry season. I had pro- 
vided myself before leaving England with a good 
assortment of beads, fish-hooks, knives, &c, to give 
to the Indians in exchange for provisions and other 
requisites. Had I been able to carry out my 
original intention, I should probably have fallen in, 
more to the north, with tribes that are little known 
(except by name) even to those longest resident on 
the coast ; as it was, my journey was confined merely 
to the country of the Woolwa and Moskito. 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



199 



Old Temple himself possessed something of the 
spirit of a traveller, and he spoke with considerable 
contempt of the Blewfields people, who knew nothing 
of the country beyond their immediate neighbour- 
hood. As a young man he had traded much among 
the Blanco and Terribee Indians in eastern Costa 
Rica, and he related many interesting things about 
their mountainous territory, and the manners and 
customs of tribes whose names I had scarcely heard 
before. From his description I should imagine 
their manners and government to have been much 
like those of the warlike San Bias, on the Isthmus of 
Panama, but what their condition is at the present 
time I am unable to state. Like the San Bias, 
every village was governed by the oldest man in it, 
and their games seem to have been of the most 
martial and athletic kind, the umpires rewarding 
prizes to the successful competitors. His description 
of the San Bias was very interesting : their strange 
habits and hostility to the Spaniards, and their 
laws enforced to prevent foreigners from settling 
amongst them, although they are friendly with the 
traders, and freely barter the produce of their lands 
for supplies of different articles of commerce to the 
exclusion of spirits, which they do not touch. Many 
small vessels call at their coast yearly, especially 
from North America, to load with cocoa-nuts, grown 
by these Indians plentifully ; and when the master 
of a boat wishes to trade, he is permitted to transact 
his business on shore, provided he joins his ship 
before night. Some of the men speak English, and 



200 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



one, belonging to a party of San Bias I afterwards 
met at Colon selling shells and parroquets to the 
Spaniards, had visited the United States. They 
were not unlike the Woolwa in person, being rather 
below the middle height, strongly made, and thick- 
set. There was much independence in their bearing 
as they stood in their canoes at the water's edge, 
appearing to regard their customers with supreme 
indifference, whether they bought or not, confident 
of getting sufficient purchasers for their stock before 
returning to their fastnesses beyond Porto Bello. 

I made an agreement with Temple that he 
should go home to Blewfields to spend Christmas 
with his family, taking with him the case of skins 
I wished to send by the January mail ; after which 
he was to return immediately to Kissalala, when we 
would, without delay, start for the interior. In 
the mean time, I intended to keep myself quiet until 
I had lost the slight feverishness and weakness with 
which I had been troubled ever since my return 
from the Rama. This used to come on about every 
third evening, commencing with a chill and a 
shivering, just as the sun dipped. I would make 
up the fire and sit over it, and, being thirsty without 
hunger, would brew a quantity of strong tea, 
drinking it as hot as possible ; this induced persjn- 
ration, and after spending rather a restless night 
wrapped in my blanket, I awoke in the morning pretty 
well, with the exception of a degree of lassitude. 
I always consumed a great deal of sugar-cane after 
these attacks, that being the only thing for which 



AMOtfG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



201 



I had any appetite, as I had taken a distaste to 
the ripe plantains, and the different kinds of banana 
that were procurable in abundance, being the only 
fruit cultivated by the Woolwa, except shaddocks, 
and a few large, but watery, oranges. They 
usually eat one or two bananas the first thing after 
rising in the morning. Cassada, if largely con- 
sumed, is said frequently to occasion heartburn. 

This Christmas week brought my first sickness 
since my arrival in this country. Neither an 
approach to it, nor even loss of appetite, had 
assailed me before. On Christmas Day I lay on my 
lounge of split bamboo, not feeling at all well, and 
watched the wood-ants driving their covered ways 
along the supporting beams just above my head, in 
the direction of a large nest they had established 
in a corner of the hut. When these tunnels were 
broken, the inhabitants immediately swarmed to 
the breach and commenced to repair them. I could 
hardly realize that this hot, bright day, with the 
vegetation greener than I had ever before seen 
it, was indeed Christmas Day ; and of course, 
in my loneliness in the foreign land, thoughts of 
home, and the friends from whom I was so far sepa- 
rated, thronged upon me. The next few days, 
being much better, I began to grow very tired 
of this forced inactivity, and to look forward 
impatiently to Temple's return, that I might pro- 
ceed on my journey. He was longer absent than 
I had expected, and I was obliged to while away 
the time as best I could, between fishing, shooting, 



202 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



and observing the mental and physical peculiarities 
of the Indians. Though living in such a retired 
spot, these people are very particular in the require- 
ments of certain forms of etiquette among them- 
selves, as I discovered before I had been long 
in their society. One day, soon after my arrival at 
Kissalala, I was taking a constitutional turn round 
the lodges, while the men were away in the canoes 
fishing. Seeing a woman who had often brought me 
plantain, banana, cassada, &c., I nodded, and 
wished her " Good morning." I shall never forget 
the scared and astonished look that appeared in her 
face, and at once I comprehended that I had been 
guilty of a falling off from good manners. After 
the first surprise, the dusky lady seemed to recover 
her usual presence of mind, remembering probably 
that I was but a stranger from some distant land of 
barbarism, and therefore unaccustomed to polite 
society. Accordingly, she recommenced busying 
herself at her interrupted domestic duties, while 
I made the best of my way down a steep bank, rod 
in hand, to capture a fish for dinner, in my favourite 
spot. This was a shady nook, beneath the thick 
foliage and long-twisted limbs of aged swamp- 
wood, which grew near the landing-place where the 
Indian canoes were generally moored, A little 
streamlet, rising somewhere far back in the depths 
of the forest, here broke from the deep gully that 
formed its channel, and fell with a gentle murmur 
over a rocky slab into the river. The place was 
delightfully cool even on the hottest day, and by 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



203 



dropping my hook, baited with a green grass- 
hopj)er, just where the water rippled in silvery 
bubbles beneath the little cascades, I seldom failed 
to secure a fine " shirrickP This was also a 
favourite resort of birds : many species of yellow 
fly-catchers perched upon the topmost twigs of 
the swamp-woods ; humming-birds darted round 
their thick boughs in the time of blossoms ; and 
brilliant crimson and black finches fluttered in pur- 
suit of one another in the more shady thickets. 
The swamp-wood trees on the river's bank, when 
blossoming, are havens for many varieties of hum- 
ming-birds, which almost dazzle the eye with their 
rapid flight in and out among the heavily foliaged 
boughs — now poised on swiftly vibrating wings 
over the clustered flowers in which they secure 
their minute insect prey, and again darting away 
with a velocity that baffles the powers of vision ; or 
perching composedly upon the topmost twig, to 
plume their ruffled feathers. The tiny creatures 
are very fond of frisking together and engaging in 
mock or real fights. When they dart close by you, 
the clear hum, from which this peculiarly inter- 
esting family of tropical birds derives its name, is 
very perceptible. 

A fine crested eagle is not uncommon here, and 
a great variety of yellow-breasted fly-catchers were 
to be seen everywhere on the river's bank. They 
are called " kisscadee" by the Indians, with whom 
they appear to be great favourites, probably on 
account of their pretty forms, and gentle, though 



204 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



fearless disposition. A little martin ( Cotyle ivropy- 
giatis) frequently perched upon the bare top of a 
broken tree near my lodge. 

I was surprised to find that the natives of this 
country do not know how to manufacture tobacco. 
The coarse leaf-tobacco used by them is imported 
from the United States. 



205 



CHAPTER IV. 

Temple returned on the evening of the 22nd of 
January, and I was truly glad to see him, having 
spent a weary time waiting for him. He had been 
detained by cholera having shown itself in some 
members of his family. By his account, this disease, 
which subsequently wrought such fearful havoc in 
some of the Moskito villages, on the coast more to 
the north, had been brought to Blewfields. Cholera 
has often visited Grey Town ; and in December, 
1866, it broke out with such fury on board one of 
the American river steamers belonging to the 
Transit Company, on the San Juan river, that it 
had to lie by in one of the creeks, and was soon 
deserted by the remnant of the crew and passengers. 
Some half-breed Moskito men who were at Grey 
Town heard of this disaster, and started up the 
river to plunder the vessel, from which they took 
some provisions, clothing, and other things, return- 
ing toward their village in the north with their 
booty ; but before they reached Monkey Point, one 
of their number was seized with the disease, died, 
and was thrown overboard. On arriving opposite 
Blewfields Lagoon, another died, and they put into 
the bluff to bury him, which was done in such haste 



206 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



that tlie legs of the body were left exposed to the 
sun ; then they continued their journey to the 
north, no doubt sowing there the seeds of the 
harvest which resulted so fatally. I was told of one 
village in particular where a great part of the 
women were spared. A lad, having paddled over 
to the bluff from Blewfields to cut cane, was 
attracted to the spot where the man had been 
buried by the stench, which he probably thought 
proceeded from a dead cow; but approaching the 
spot, he saw the man's legs above the ground, which 
gave him such a shock, that he returned at once to 
make known the discovery. As it was Christmas 
week, he went to a dance in the evening, the custom 
of these people being to go in a party from house 
to house, until they have danced in all the houses of 
the village that are large enough. While still at one 
of these houses he was taken ill, and died before 
morning. The disease attacked several other persons 
in a greater or less degree, but there were not many 
deaths, possibly on account of the cleanliness of the 
village of Blewfields, and the distance of the houses 
from each other. This catastrophe accounted for 
the length of time Temple had kept me waiting, as, 
naturally, he did not wish to leave his family while 
they were in danger. 

When Temple went to Blewfields, he took with 
him an Indian lad from Kissalala, to assist in pad- 
dling his canoe. On the news reaching us that the 
cholera had broken out at Blewfields, the two sisters 
of the young man immediately took a small pit-pan, • 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 207 



and started to fetch him home, out of danger of the 
dreaded " sickness," as the Indians call this terrible 
scourge, so different from their known diseases. 
When the girls arrived at Blewfields, they found 
Temple about to return with their brother, so they 
all came up the river together, without any harm 
apparently accruing from their visit ; the two women 
cooking supper when they camped, and paddling 
their own little pit-pan. After their return, one of 
them was taken sick in the afternoon, and got worse 
during the night. An Indian came to me for some 
medicine, and I gave him some essence of ginger 
in a little hot tea (the only specific I had with me). 
This seemed to relieve her, but soon after they gave 
her some mishla. She again became worse, and 
just before dawn, while lying awake on my bamboo 
couch, I heard the crying of the women, by which 
I knew that she was dead. The Indians clustered 
into Temple's place, appearing very much startled, 
and all the fires began to throw out heavy wreaths 
of smoke, from the fuel of a bush which is burnt 
green, as a disinfectant. They now seemed to 
think that " the sickness" was fairly among them, 
and some guests, who had come from the very head 
of the river, instantly hurried their things into the 
canoes, and I heard the rattle of their paddles while 
it was yet dark. At daybreak the other sister, 
who had been to Blewfields, began retching vio- 
lently, and, creeping down the steep bank to the 
water's edge with great difficulty, with the aid of 
a staff, died there in about two hours. The people 



208 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



now became so alarmed, that none but the old 
mother of the two girls and their brother would 
approach the bodies. All were seized with a regular 
panic, and came to me for remedies. Many of the 
women were retching, and Teribio, the Moskito 
man, looked quite pale, and complained that he 
felt very sick. My chattels were fortunately packed 
ready for my journey, so Temple and I encouraged 
them in their wish to leave the place immediately. 
I gave them a good dose of essence of ginger all 
round, which, if it did nothing else, partly reassured 
them. Having cautioned them against the mishla, 
they capsized a whole row of brimming pots that 
had been prepared for the morrow. Freshwater and 
Jackson had already paddled off with their families, 
and the remainder got into their canoes and fol- 
lowed, Temple and I occupying one together. I 
was much disgusted with Oosi-Maria and another 
Indian, the husbands of the two women who had 
died, for after cutting off their hair in sign of 
mourning, according to the Woolwa custom, they 
were so panic-stricken, that they joined the rest of 
the fugitives, leaving the mother and the lad alone 
with the dead sisters in the deserted village. This 
heartless behaviour must have been the fruit of their 
unconquerable fear of the strange " sickness," as 
the Indians usually have a funeral ceremonial, and 
much mishla-drinking. There is a regular place 
of burial, and at funerals a long line of spun cotton 
is stretched, like a telegraph-wire, from the house 
of the deceased, where the mishla-drinking is going 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



209 



on, to the interment-ground (where the body has 
been deposited), no matter how distant it may be. 
I have seen it following the course of the river for 
many miles, crossing and re-crossing the stream 
several times. 

Captain Lewis, in his interesting book on the 
Wild Hill Races of South-Eastern India, mentions 
a similar usage among the Tipperalis of India. 

The whole community of Kissalala camped that 
evening on a rock below the Matuck rapids, and 
next day we paddled on till the afternoon, passing 
many rapids, and often being obliged to haul the 
canoe. On camping, we made a very good meal 
off a ivarry (wild-hog), which Teribio had killed. 
I did all I could to rouse the Indians from their 
terror, but the exertions of the day seemed to have 
the most beneficial effect. They always used a 
quantity of red chiti (pepper), which is here 
common, in cooking; but since their fright they 
had made their soups and boiled meats, usually 
very good, so hot, that I could hardly touch 
them. 

We passed a fall without much difficulty, and, 
the next day being Sunday, remained in camp. 
Freshwater killed a most beautifully -marked ocelot, 
which we afterwards found lying on the rocks below. 
It had been too long exposed to the sun, so I could 
not secure its skin, which was a great pity, as 
I have never seen another specimen of equal 
beauty. 

It was amusing to watch Teribio' s little daughter 

p 



210 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



towing one of the pit-pans in the shallow water, 
and kicking about like a young otter. She was 
seven years old, and betrothed to young Fresh- 
water, in conformity to the Woolwa custom of the 
selection of wives when mere children. The future 
bridegroom resides with the father-in-law elect, and 
superintends the education of the young lady. This 
little bride in prospective was an only child, a great 
pet, and, as is usual in such cases, very much 
spoilt. 

28th. — I manned a pit-pan with the men I had 
engaged at Kissalala, and continued my journey. 
Besides Temple and myself, there were three men 
in the canoe, viz., Teribio, the Moskito man, and 
the two Woolwa, Oosi-Maria and Jackson ; the rest 
of the people we left in the camp. They had 
arranged that Freshwater and another man should 
take Teribio and Jackson's wives, with some other 
women and children, up a little creek, that fell into 
the river just above the beach on which they were 
camped, to remain there out of the way of the 
u sickness," until Teribio and the two returned, 
after we had reached the head of the river. 

We passed the night in an Indian encampment, 
which we discovered pitched on a gravel bank, 
among some rocks, in the midst of the river, now 
become little better than a succession of rapids and 
falls. These were the first people we had encoun- 
tered since leaving Kissalala, as at all the other 
places we passed the Indians had fled far up the 
little creeks at news of the " sickness," generally 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 211 

leaving at the mouth of the creek a wand, with 
a piece of white rag fluttering at the end, to in- 
dicate the direction they had taken. On the follow- 
ing day we passed the Moroding Falls, up to which 
point sharks are said to ascend the river. We found 
that the pit-pan we were in was too heavily laden 
for this rapid and dangerous part of the river, where 
we sometimes had to make several portages in a 
day. I authorized Temple to bargain with these 
Indians for another, and also to engage two more 
men. In this second pit-pan we carried the heavy 
bunches of plantain and other provisions, besides 
some things which we removed from the over-laden 
canoe. I remained in the larger one with Teribio, 
Oosi-Maria, and Jackson, while Temple took the 
command of the other. We were kept in this place 
till the next day, making these arrangements and 
collecting provisions. 

I always knew when the Indians alluded to me 
in their conversation as we travelled along : they 
invariably spoke of me as Waikna, literally "man"; 
and as I lounged upon the seat in the middle of the 
pit-pan, engaged in taking notes, or skinning a bird 
during our morning paddle, it a|)peared to me that 
I often afforded subject-matter for long and knotty 
discussions among them. Soon after starting on 
the morning of the 30th, we arrived at a place 
where the river is quite blocked up, and lost to 
sight, amidst great stones fallen from the side of a 
rocky hill. Here we had to convey pit-pan and 
everything over the hill, by a long and steep, but 



212 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



well-worn portage-path through the forest, striking 
the river again on the other side, as it emerged 
from the obstruction in a rocky gorge : the banks 
were densely covered with vegetation, resembling, 
in this respect, every other part of the river's 
course. After one more portage we came to an 
Indian settlement, where they gave us some cassada ; 
and, bidding them adieu, we camped a little further 
on. When passing through the channels among 
the larger boulders in the river's bed, we often dis- 
turbed flights of small bats. The effect was very 
strange, as they would flit like arrows shot from 
an unseen hand, for a short distance, to the shady 
side of some rock, into which the flooding waters 
had worn curious cavities : here they seemed as 
quickly to vanish as they aj)peared, for when they 
had once fastened themselves to the crevices, their 
colour and shape so much resembled the unequal 
surface of the cross-grained stone, that it was almost 
impossible to distinguish them even at a limited range. 

During the next morning's paddle, we shot three 
monkeys and two quam (or guan\ a bird about 
half-way between a fowl and a turkey in size ; so 
we stopped and had a good dinner under some 
shady swamp-woods. That day we passed beyond 
the site of the late hurricane. Since leaving the 
First Hill, as the long portage we passed the day 
before is called by the natives, its effects had not 
been very noticeable. There was a very great 
change for the better in the appearance of the 
woods. Many noble silk-cotton and other trees 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



213 



shoot out at the numerous bends of the river in 
their true and unmutilated proportions, throwing 
their giant limbs far over the stream. The tall, tou^h 
eboe is not seen much further from the coast than 
where the influence of the tide is felt, that is to 
say, not much beyond Kissalala on this river. The 
eboe-nut is a great favourite with the gorgeous 
macaws, which come from a long distance to feed 
upon it, and it is also useful to the people on 
the coast, who make from it a very fine oil. 
The bamboo now began to be seen more plenti- 
fully, increasing in size as we ascended the 
stream. The loud note of the " partridge," as the 
Creoles call it, was to be heard in the dense forest 
on either bank; but I was never able to catch a 
glimpse of the bird, although two of the eggs were 
given me : they were blue, like those of the hedge- 
sparrow. There are two kinds of curassow which 
inhabit this region — one, called by the natives the 
queen-curassow, beautifully checked all over, like 
some of the bitterns of the country, with deep 
brown and black markings upon a ground of light 
warm brown ; the other is black and white : both 
kinds have the head ornamented with a handsome 
crest of curled feathers, which the Indians often 
convert into a tasteful head-dress. 

On the 1st of February we camped at an Indian 
settlement. In the dry season, when the water is 
low, the Indians at all the settlements encamp on 
the rocks at the water's edge. They live in their 
regular substantially-built houses on the high banks 



214 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



above only in the rains, when the river is subject 
to great and sudden rises. The next day we passed 
an exceedingly difficult part of the river, and 
came to the Second Hill, where the stream was 
entirely lost amid the immense rocks. The portage- 
path was not so long as that at the First Hill, 
but equally well-worn, and a very pleasant one, 
leading through the shady woods. It is noticeable 
that where a portage has been used, the cavities 
in the rocks are filled with cedar-shavings, some old 
and some fresh, scraped off the bottoms of the pit- 
pans by the rough surface of the stones. On 
arriving at the river at the other side of the hill, 
Ave cooked our dinner on the gravel bank at the 
mouth of a shady little creek, called Billwass, which 
here joins it. I was told that Woolwa lived up 
this secluded little stream ; and on more than one 
occasion I have observed their rjredilection for these 
out-of-the-way creeks, which have obstructions in 
their mouths even for pit-pan navigation. As soon 
as we had dined, and the Indians had refreshed 
themselves after their exertions, as is their wont, 
by bathing in the rapid water, we again pushed 
on, finding the river still very difficult, on account 
of the rocks with which its course was impeded. 
Before nightfall we arrived at a settlement which, 
I afterwards learned, goes by the name of Woukee, 
as it is situated at the foot of the falls of that name 
(so called after a kind of bittern), part of which can 
be seen from the lodges. 

The next day was Sunday, and I remained at 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 215 



this place to give a rest to the men, who, for the 
last two days, had had very hard work with the 
poles, making portages, and dragging the canoes 
over the rocks. I am sure if some of those who 
condemn Indians as a lazy race had seen them 
at this work they would have revoked their judg- 
ment! Woukee is decidedly the prettiest settle- 
ment on the river, from the manner in which the 
houses are built, and the grounds planted around 
them. Besides the universal Sup a palm, which, 
when on the banks among the forest trees, always 
indicates the sites of the old settlements, and 
others, usually seen among the Woolwa, a fine 
bread-fruit, various fruit trees, and also a large 
quantity of chocolate and cotton, are planted here. 
The old man who seemed to be the patriarch of 
the place, was lame in one leg, from the effect of a 
snake-bite, from which he was just recovering. I 
had hitherto considered the men of this tribe as 
living in the seclusion of their rivers and forests, 
but this old man proved to be an exception : he had 
travelled to a considerable distance, having in his 
youth engaged himself to traders on the coast as 
far south as Salt Creek, in Costa Rica, and among 
the San Bias Indians. Temple recollected seeing 
him with the Teribee and Blancos in Costa Rica : 
one of the men in the provision canoe had also 
travelled a long way, having been through the 
Spanish territory about lake Nicaragua, to Granada, 
Leon, Massaya, Managua, and other places. Many 
of the Woolwa at the head of the river understand 



216 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



Spanish, whilst most of those of the lower river, 
who go to Blewfielcls, speak Moskito ; but this man 
was conversant with both languages. About the 
centre there were, however, many Woolwa who 
knew no tongue save their own. 

During the clay I spent here, all the Woukee 
people were busily engaged in grinding the cane 
and making sugar, the young men tinning the stiff 
rollers by hand-spikes, while the patriarch, assisted 
by some girls, placed the cane between the rollers. 
The juice, on being thus crushed out, ran clown 
banana leaves into one of their large earthenware 
pots. 

Temple and I remained at Woukee till the next 
morning, when we joined Teribio and his com- 
panions, who had already taken the pit-pans and 
their loads over the succession of rapids and falls 
above the settlement. We had to walk through the 
skirts of the forest along a rugged track, with sharp 
pieces of rock spiking out of the ground everywhere, 
and covered with fallen trees ; then by the water's 
edge, climbing from one mass of water-worn rock to 
another, until at last we reached the canoe. I found 
this kind of walking very tiring to the feet, for in 
these canoe-journeys I followed the Indian fashion, 
and went barefoot, as it was quite the best plan, 
in consequence of the quantity of water that came 
over the sides and flooded the bottom of the canoe 
whilst we navigated the rapids. When we were on 
the point of tinning a corner, I heard loud cries in 
the rear, which I took to be those of monkeys in the 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



217 



adjoining forest; but the men understood that the 
Indians, now in the distance, were hailing us to 
return; on putting back, we discovered that in 
scrambling over the stones I had dropped my note- 
book and map ; these they had picked up, and came 
after us, at considerable inconvenience to themselves, 
to restore them. This is but one of many instances 
of the scrupulous honesty of this tribe of Indians ; 
indeed, to the best of my knowledge, I never even 
lost a string of beads or a fish-hook whilst living 
among them, although they had abundant oppor- 
tunities for theft when I was at Kissalala and 
other places, for I had many things lying about 
that must have seemed extremely valuable in their 
eyes. 

At a mid-day halt once, we happened to have 
nothing to eat in the shape of meat. Temple con- 
sequently fairly lost his temper, and annoyed me 
considerably by grumbling to the Indians ; so I took 
him aside, and told him if he was not contented to 
put up with what I did, I should send him back to 
Blewfields when we arrived at the next settlement. 
I heard no more of his murmurings, but was not 
sorry when, after we had gone a little farther, we 
secured a couple of quam for dinner. Animal life, 
contrary to my expectations, was scarce on this 
river, rather decreasing the higher we ascended. 
Now and then we startled a flock of shag and darters, 
balancing themselves clumsily on the bare limbs of 
a tree over the water. Sometimes our approach 
would so alarm these stupid-looking birds, that 



218 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



they altogether lost their equilibrium, and fell with 
a loud flop into the water, where they made the best 
of their retreat by a long dive; occasionally a 
solitary white heron, a teal, or a Muscovy duck, 
rose from under the bank; or a large black crab- 
catching hawk broke the stillness with his peculiar 
whistling note. At night, too, we sometimes caught 
a pair of brilliant little trogons, sitting motionless 
under the shade of a swamp-wood. Snakes were 
common on the banks, some of them beautifully 
marked, such as the barbers pole, for instance; 
but iguana, so plentiful lower down the river, had 
become scarce. At times the men would whisper 
that they saw deer on the bank ahead, but they 
always disappeared behind before we could get 
nearer. The tracks of the tapir, or mountain- 
cow, were very numerous on the banks, showing 
where they had crossed in the night, for their habits 
are nocturnal. That night, after we had lain down 
to rest, I heard the cry of an owl, which at first I 
imagined to be some one calling to us from the 
woods, so exactly did it resemble the human voice, 
hailing us in most unfriendly tones from the depths 
of the gloomy forest that shut in the river on each 
side. On the upper part of the Blewfields river, a 
large species of owl (Syrnium perspicillaium) was 
often pointed out to me ; they were detected by the 
sharp eyes of the Indians, sitting in pairs, under the 
shady plume-like clusters of the tall bamboo : some 
of the older ones which I shot were armed with 
most formidable talons. The little fin-foot is very 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 219 



common on the Blewfields river. This bird is very 
similar in appearance and habits to our dab-chick, 
or small grebe ; it is generally to be seen paddling 
about under the banks, or skulking among the reeds ; 
its flight is heavy and of short duration, but it is 
an adept at diving: the Creoles call it the diving 
dapper. 

On the 5th, we hauled the canoe over an im- 
mense rock blocking up the passage, and on which 
we cooked a JcarJcee, or Indian rabbit, shot in the 
morning by Blue-blossom, one of the men in Temple's 
canoe. 

We stopped for the night at a considerable Indian 
settlement, the largest, I believe, on this river, con- 
sisting of five or six houses on each bank. From 
what I saw here as well as at the other places, I 
came to the conclusion that the Indians have many 
narrow paths through the forest known only to 
themselves, leading far away, and perhaps con- 
necting this with other rivers. They are intimately 
acquainted with every little creek and watercourse 
of their country; and I think any who may be 
interested in the correct mapping out of the districts, 
would do well oftener to consult the aboriginal 
Indians, instead of the mongrel caribs and Creoles 
on the coast and in the Spanish country. At this 
settlement I saw the first Woolwa with grey hair 
that I had encountered — -a most pleasant-looking, 
contented, old man, who, I was informed, was 
the oldest man on the river. 

I expected that the next day would be my last of 



220 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



the water before starting across country. As, how- 
ever, the morning threatened much rain, we re- 
mained stationary until the following day. Teribio 
killed a fine deer on the evening of our arrival, 
which, with some quam, supplied our larder in a 
very satisfactory manner; for the venison in this 
locality is exceedingly good. There is a sort of 
tick in this country, called by the Spaniards garra- 
patas, which infests the vegetation in the dry 
season. These insects are a source of great annoy- 
ance to every one travelling through the woods, as 
they are easily brushed off by the clothes, and 
immediately fix themselves on various parts of the 
body, burying their heads in the skin, causing great 
irritation. Spanish travellers in these regions often 
carry with them a lump of soft wax, with which 
they extract the " garra-patas," by pressing it on 
the sj^ot where the insect is embedded. Dogs and 
horses suffer very much from them, and very large 
ones are often seen on cattle and deer ; they some- 
times get into the nostrils, and mount so high that 
it is not easy to reach them. All this night I was 
made very restless by a creeping sensation stealing 
all over me, like the crawl of some unfamiliar 
insect ; in the morning I found myself covered 
with ticks. Temple was as surprised as I was 
at finding them in an Indian lodge, and inquired of 
Teribio the meaning of the invasion, who laughed, 
and pointed to the deer's skin suspended from the 
rafters over my sleeping place, which, of course, 
explained the phenomenon ; for the deer, as a 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 221 



denizen of the forest, is always covered with them, 
and the insects had been dropping down upon me 
all the night. I was engaged for nearly two days 
in picking them out. 

While we were at the village, I sent Teribio 
and Blue-blossom into the thick woods at the back 
of the houses, to shoot some of the birds for me 
that lodged in the recesses. They brought a few 
large and small trogons, and a bird which I had not 
seen on the river before ( Eurypyga major). During 
my stay here, I had a glimpse of what might be 
called a very ideal of savage beauty. I had already 
seen several strikingly handsome young men, but 
there was a grandeur about this youthful head, with 
its heavy masses of jet-black hair hanging over the 
forehead, and throwing a deep shadow over fine 
aquiline features, and large eyes of wonderful bril- 
liancy. He surpassed anything that I had before 
seen of the natural nobility of man. When I 
turned to take a second look at this beautiful youth, 
he had disappeared from the lodge, and I saw 
no more of him. 

On the 7th we arrived at a place called Kaka, 
which we heard was the last settlement of the 
Indian tribe on this river ; but I doubt the fact ; 
for though the river had become a small stream, 
there must still have been, for some distance 
further, much more water in it than in some of the 
creeks lower down which are inhabited. 

In the afternoon a man entered the lodge in 
which we had made our fire, strumming some very 



222 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



pretty airs on a sort, of guitar. He sj)oke to us 
in Spanish, and volunteered to give information 
about the country lying before us, offering himself 
as our guide, and saying that the nearest places in 
the Spanish country were Consuelo and Libertad, to 
both of which the Indians had tracks through the 
forest from this settlement, enabling them to carry 
plantain and banana for occasional sale. Hearing 
from him and the Woolwa that Consuelo was the 
nearest, and also that there were " mucho Inglez" 
there, I decided upon walking over to it with 
Temple, though I did not give much credence to 
their assurance of the number of my countrymen 
I should find, thinking that the Indians might 
imagine all the Europeans who could not speak 
the Spanish language to be English. But there 
might, perhaps, be one Englishman in the 
place sufficiently acquainted with the country 
to be able to give us some information about 
our position, and directions for our future 
course. 

My men found some boon-companions at Kaka 
the evening of our arrival there, and in the con- 
genial society drank themselves very noisy with the 
fermented juice of the sugar-cane. 

Kaka is a pretty little place, lying embedded 
in woods ; and on the opposite side of the river, 
here very narrow, rose an especially beautiful wall 
of verdure, the tall, straight shafts of the trunks 
and limbs of trees appearing at intervals between 
the masses of varied foliage, — flowering vines, 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 223 



caught up here and there in festoons, or hanging 
down in heavy tresses, the snake-like coil of the 
bush-ropes, and the elegant fronds of a palm, occa- 
sionally breaking the outline. 

On one side the lodges ran into what would, 
in Wales, be called a trout stream — the same slabs 
of rock, deep pools, little falls, and 'brawling 
hollows ; but here, the palm, the tree-fern, and 
many other peculiar forms of vegetation known 
only to the tropics, overhung the glancing water ; 
while from the green walls that shut in the stream 
on either side, and through which only a stray 
beam of sunlight found its way, came the strange 
cries of parrots, toucans, trogons, and other birds, 
whose voices were in harmony with the scene. 

I saw an exceptionally large sugar-cane planta- 
tion at Kaka ; and the Indians make a very 
palatable kind of sugar, moulding it into cakes to 
eat with their plantain and baked cassada. I soon 
followed their ^example, and found it a great 
improvement to the fare. We had much rain 
during the latter part of our journey, but were 
not deterred from our intended progress. The day 
after our arrival was spent in preparing for our 
travels by land. 



224 



CHAPTER V. 

On the 9 tli of February, Temple and I, with some 
Indians, started for Consuelo directly after our 
morning cup of tea, which I always took at day- 
break whilst travelling. The track, in some places 
very faint, led through a damp and gloomy forest, 
several times crossing a creek (the same that joins 
the river at Kaka), thence up the sides of a high 
steep hill, covered with tall straight trees, closely 
intermixed with others of a shorter and thicker 
growth, saplings, and dwarf palms, the whole 
bound together at intervals with bush-ropes. It 
was impossible to obtain any view of the surround- 
ing country until we arrived at the very summit, 
where there was a small open plot of grass. Sud- 
denly emerging from the tangled forest, rather 
exhausted by the wearisome climb, in which we had 
often been obliged to creep under, or scale the trees 
and branches that lay across the track, we came 
unexpectedly on a view of great extent and beauty : 
the plain beneath, diversified by hills of different 
elevation, stretched far away to the foot of distant 
mountains. The day was so unusually clear, that 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 225 



the Indians could point out on the distant slopes the 
savannahs, distinguishable by their light-brown 
tint ; they called them the mountains and savannahs 
of Matagalpa. I was never again able to get a clear 
view from this eminence, as on subsequent visits the 
woody sides of the hill were enveloped in mist and 
vapour. On our left, through the trees, we caught 
a glimpse of a curiously-shaped rocky summit, a 
little higher than that on which we stood, and 
which I afterwards discovered to be the peak of 
Pena Blanca. 

We only met with one snake in our passage 
through the woods, and that a small, insignificant 
brown creature, though the Indians appeared to 
hold it in great dread, as they took the trouble to 
beat it to death with a long stick, throwing it out 
of the path before they would pass the spot. I only 
came into actual contact with the reptiles on two 
other occasions, although I have often shot them on 
the bank from my canoe, at the request of the men. 
I killed a snake once on a path near the Javali 
mine in Chontales ; and another time, at Kissalala, 
when sleeping by my fire, I felt something on my 
blanket at my feet ; I kicked out drowsily, and then 
waking up, I saw by the fire-light a snake wriggling 
off as fast as he could, and ere I could fling a brand 
at him he was gone. Before this incident I had 
been under the impression that snakes were afraid 
to approach a fire. Of other living creatures also 
we saw very little in this journey. 

After leaving the open space on the summit of 

Q 



226 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



the hill, we did not take long to go down the steep 
descent on the other side, which led to a narrow 
valley, evidently but recently cleared of its timber. 
I observed during our fatiguing march through the 
forest the sun was always before us, by which we 
knew that we had been going nearly due east since 
leaving Kaka. 

We paused to make inquiry at the first hut we 
came to, after leaving the woods ; it was inhabited 
by Spaniards. I asked them if there were English 
at Consuelo ; whereupon one of them politely offered 
to conduct me to the house of an Englishman. On 
our walk thither, Temple and I saw enough to con- 
vince us that we were in a mining settlement of 
considerable importance. Having reached the house 
we sought, our guide pointed to a man sitting in a 
hammock, while two women of English exterior 
were cooking at a stove what looked more like 
beefsteak than anything I had seen for a long 
time. Turning to the man, I asked him if he were 
English. He replied, evidently surprised at the 
question, u I should rather think so !" 

Judge of my amazement on finding that I had 
come out of the forest in the midst of the Chontales 
mines, which from the map I had supposed to be 
due south of the Blewfields river. It was, however, 
equalled by the astonishment of the peojue here on 
seeing us come out of the forest ; they are so shut 
in by densely- wooded hills that they never dreamt 
of the possibility of any one arriving among them 
except by the road from Lake Nicaragua, through 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



227 



the town of Libert ad. The hearty old Cornish 
mining Captain took me to his room, where a dinner 
of beefsteak and bread was already on the table, 
of which I was very glad to partake, as my morning's 
march over the steep hill had tired me much, after 
accustoming myself only to canoe travelling for so 
long. 

The next day I went to San Domingo, the head- 
quarters of the Chontales mines, where I was very 
kindly received by the officers of the mining com- 
pany, who seemed much surprised to find that they 
were only divided by the hills behind the settle- 
ment from the large river that flows into Blewfields 
Lagoon. At this place I saw an immense number 
of the vultures called 61 John Crows " on the coast — 
u Zopitotas" by the Spaniards. In the evening I 
returned to Consuelo, where Mr. Longland, the 
purveyor, placed a hammock at my disposal. On 
the morrow I went back to Kaka, and paid off all 
my Indian men, except Teribio and the two Woolwa 
from Kissalala, who said they would rather wait till 
I returned to Blewfields after my journey, and then 
be paid "in cloth," as they call printed cottons, 
since I had nothing with me that took their fancy. 
I thought this showed considerable confidence in 
me, "as my word was their only guarantee that I 
should return to Blewfields. 

I went to Consuelo the next morning, leaving 
Temple at Kaka in charge of my things, which I 
left there until I could arrange to have them brought 
over the hill. It amused me highly to see the 



228 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



Woolwa who came with me take off their simple 
toumoo, and put on trousers and shirt, before coming 
within sight of the first house. I do not know 
their reason for doing so, as at Blewfields they 
constantly walk about with nothing on but the 
toumoo. 

I dined with the late Captain Hill, E.N., then 
in command of the mines ; he gave me some very 
interesting particulars of a cruise among the islands 
off the unfrequented coasts of New Guinea. Hearing 
that the man engaged to go with a pack-ox to Kaka 
for my things had not yet started, I went to see 
what delayed him. These mongrel Spaniards are the 
most tiresome people to deal with imaginable; if 
you attempt to hurry them, they reply, in the coolest 
manner possible, "Poco tiempo." When I was on 
the river, some troublesome little ulcers had shown 
themselves about the ankles, and had since become 
much worse ; so the doctor at the mines advised me 
to rest until they were better. I was not able 
therefore to take many birds among the surrounding 
hills, or to see as much of the country as I desired. 
The officers' quarters were at this time in a wretched 
native building, composed of mud walls, boarding, 
and thatch. One evening, when I was sitting there 
as usual, a man came running in, much excited, 
saying that a person named Clato had been stabbed 
while gambling in the carpenters' workshop, the 
great resort of the natives on pay-night. Of course 
we all took our revolvers and hastened to the scene. 
The jshed in which they had been gambling was so 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 229 



thronged that we could hardly elbow our way up to 
the work-bench on which the wounded man lay. I 
recognised him at once, as a tall, gaunt Spaniard 
whom I had seen in conversation with the native 
miners as they came from receiving their pay — - 
probably arranging the evening's play which was 
to cost him his life ; for a single glance at his livid 
face was sufficient to show that his minutes were 
numbered ; and so it proved, for before we left the 
shed he was a corpse. When we entered, the 
doctor was doing all he could for him ; but though 
his wound between the ribs looked wonderfully 
small, and there was very little blood to be seen, 
the internal haemorrhage must have been great, for 
he was very soon choked. I could not help thinking, 
whilst looking on the powerful frame before me, 
laid so low, and by so small a thing (a pocket 
clasp-knife, afterwards found in the shavings in 
the shop), how easily the " silver cord" is loosened. 
It seemed that none had witnessed the fatal 
blow, though the Cornish Captain, on hearing the 
disturbance, had gone in with his revolver to 
disperse the disputants in time to see the Spaniard 
fall. The next day, an officer, with some Nica- 
raguan soldiers, arrived, and made inquiries into 
the murder; inconsequence of which about a dozen 
men, witnesses and petty offenders, were put 
into the stocks. They did not secure the murderer, 
who, of course, had made his escape into the 
bush. 

On the 20th, I was informed that my messengers 



230 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



had returned from Kaka without bringing my 
baggage ; on inquiry, it turned out that Temple, 
for some unexplained reason, had left the place, and 
the AYoolwa would not give up what was in their 
charge to strangers. The honesty of these abori- 
gines contrasts very favourably with the thievishness 
of the Spaniards, who stripped me of nearly all my 
little nicknacks during the short time I remained 
at the mines. I was much annoyed with Temple, 
having given him orders to wait at Kaka until I either 
went myself or sent some one else in my stead. 
I engaged one of the Matagalpa miners to accompany 
me, and set out for Kaka the next day ; but when, 
after wading through the creek, we entered the 
place, it was quite empty. I fired off several shots 
from my revolver, and then, nobody appearing, I 
desired the Indian to take my axe, chop some wood, 
and cook some of the green plantains that were 
hanging up under the eaves of the lodge in which 
my things were deposited. When this was done, 
and I had prepared some tea, I invited him by a 
motion to join me, and we sat down to enjoy our 
frugal supper. I made some attempt at conversation 
with my companion in broken Spanish, but he did 
not seem to be very quick at understanding. At 
dusk, a strange Woolwa ajyp eared above the bank, 
coming from the river, attracted no doubt by the 
light of a fire at a place that he probably knew to 
be empty; he was in full dress (paint, feathers, &c.) 
and very tipsy, which at once explained the absence 
of the inhabitants at a feast in the neighbourhood. 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



231 



I was not sorry when he staggered down the bank 
to the canoe in which his wife awaited him, for his 
good-tempered familiarity was not very £>leasant. 
The next morning the missing inhabitants trooped 
in, and I engaged two young men to carry my two 
tin boxes over to Consuelo. 

I was much amused by the assertion of my 
Matagalpa friend, who, when asked by the Woolwa 
what nation he belonged to, declared, with great 
emphasis, that he was an " Espagnol claro," though 
he was, in reality, as much an Indian as any of his 
Woolwa questioners. I was struck by the facility 
with which they made themselves understood, by 
rapidly exchanged signs, although totally unac- 
quainted with each other's language. 

On our way back to Consuelo we met Temple, 
and several Woolwa boys returning to Kaka; his 
surprise was great that I should have walked so far 
with my ankles in such a painful state. To excuse 
himself for his absence, he said that he had thought 
it better to employ the time, while waiting at Kaka, 
in making inquiries about mules for our journey, 
and, for that purpose, had followed the other track 
to the town of Libertad ; but he had been unable 
to return sooner, having been attacked by a 
violent fever. I told him, however, that his good 
intentions were no excuse for leaving, without an 
order from me, the things I had placed under his 
care. 

During the remainder of my stay at the mines, 
I messed with the officers at their quarters, and 



232 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



formed some sincere friendships ; and I still enter- 
tain the hope that I may one day have the pleasure 
of again meeting Mr. Grill and the kind Californian 
lady, his wife. In the latter part of February and 
the beginning of March, the wounds on my ankles 
became very painful, owing, perhaps, to the rough 
treatment they had received on my last walk to 
Kaka, and being often bruised against logs and 
stumps ; but I was assm^ed that nearly all the English 
in the mines had suffered more or less from these 
troublesome little ulcers. I now began to despair 
of carrying out my original intention of a northerly 
route, as the dry season was very far advanced. If 
I had waited for the heavy rains, commencing about 
the end of May or the beginning of June, all my 
own things, as well as any collection of birds that I 
might make, would have become quite spoiled before 
I could have brought them down to Blewflelds. 
Even now, so great was the dampness of the climate, 
I had much difficulty in preserving those I had 
already obtained. Some water-colour paper for 
sketching was so damaged that it was impossible to 
use it, the colour running as it would on blotting- 
paper; so that I was obliged to take my sketches 
in pen and ink. 

Captain Pirn, R.N., arrived at Chontales for 
a visit whilst I was resting there. He appeared 
to be much interested in my account of Blewflelds 
river, and seemed to entertain, with Dr. Seeman, 
of the Javali mine, the idea of opening communica- 
tion with Blewflelds by means of a mule track, cut 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 233 



through the forest to Kissalala; from which place 
they would have a small craft down the river, the 
lower part of its course being free from obstruc- 
tion. 

This plan would be a great saving in point of 
distance, for at present the only communication 
with the coast is by way of Lake Nicaragua, the 
San Juan river, and Grey Town. If the scheme 
should be carried out, the Nicaraguans would pro- 
bably make an effort to gain possession of Blew- 
fields, as they did formerly in the case of Grey 
Town. It is to be hoped that the Government of 
England would deal more honourably by our old 
Moskito friends than it did in the treaty of 1861, 
of which, whenever it was mentioned (and the 
natives frequently questioned me about it), I felt 
very much ashamed. 

The weather was now delightful, and as my 
ankles were a little better, I determined soon to 
bring my stay at Chontales to a close ; and as it 
was not possible to go round by the Patook route 
this season, I resolved to return to the Moskito 
shore. Temple assured me that the Blewfields and 
the Pearl Cay Lagoons, as well as the neighbouring 
creeks and rivers, at this time of year abounded in 
various kinds of water-fowl ; and I purposed making 
there the best collection of birds that I could, 
during the remaining dry months, April and 
May. 

The forests about the Chontales district look 
very heavy and gloomy, and walking in their 



234 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



shadows causes an oppression on the spirits very- 
different from the lightness of heart with which 
one treads the sward beneath the " greenwood trees 
of merrie England." There is also a singular 
scarcity of animals of the larger species. Deer, 
wild hog, even curassow and quam, are by no 
means plentiful. From the state of my ankles, I 
was not able to penetrate far into the woods in my 
search for birds; but I sent Temple occasionally. 
I noticed two or three varieties of toucan, one of 
which was larger than the Ramphastos piscivorus 
I saw at Kissalala. There were only a few macaws 
and parrots; but I was told that they had been 
numerous just before I came, and were still to be 
seen in large numbers on the plain towards the 
lake. Besides these, there were also small birds, 
mannikins, &c. Temple once brought me a very 
strange-looking bird ; its wings were very short in 
proportion to its body; it had a lengthy tail, and 
its general colour was a metallic coj)per. I am 
sorry to say that I left this specimen, with others, 
in the country, and have not as yet received them. 
Here, as is usually the case in the forests of Central 
America, insects are to be seen in almost endless 
variety. 

I was in some measure confirmed in my belief 
that the Woolwa tribes extended farther to the 
west than Kaka; for one of the officers, who was 
exploring the neighbourhood of the mines, said that 
he had fallen in with a track in the woods leading 
westward to a village of Indians, who, from his 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 235 



description, resembled the Soumoo Woolwa in every 
respect. 

Ere leaving Chontales, I sent Temple to Captain 
Pirn, to give him such information concerning the 
river as his long experience would enable him to 
impart. 



236 



CHAPTER VI. 

On the 2 3rd of March, in the afternoon, I left 
Santo Domingo for Kaka, on my way back to the 
coast. I managed, with much difficulty, to walk 
to the settlement, reaching it only just before dark, 
and very much fatigued. I mistook my road among 
the numerous hunting-paths made by the Indians. 
In such cases it is necessary to keep presence of 
mind. The sun was getting low; and haying sent 
Temple on to make arrangements for the night, 
I walked leisurely along, till I discovered that I 
was on the wrong track. Remembering what very 
uncomfortable predicaments travellers have found 
themselves in under similar circumstances, by be- 
coming first flurried and then hopelessly perplexed, 
I simply turned round, and retraced my steps to 
a point where I was confident I had been on the 
right path. After this, I continued my way more 
carefully, until I met two of the Indians, who were 
seeking me, alarmed at my long absence. Having 
refreshed myself by a bathe in the cool waters of 
the creek, and partaken of a good supper, with 
which my Santo Domingo friends had provided 
me, I spread my blankets, and lay down by the 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



237 



fire once more, as I had been wont to do at the 
different Soumoo villages. I had suffered much 
from thieves during my short residence in the 
Spanish country; all the more, probably, as at 
first, from a habit acquired among the honest 
Woolwa, I took no precautions. The consequence 
was that now, when I left Santo Domingo, I had 
not even a strap with which to secure my blankets, 
and was obliged to use string instead. Poor old 
Temple lost all his clay pipes, and. even his top^ 
boots. I was much vexed to find amongst the 
missing articles a meerschaum, nicely carved with 
the figure of an Indian chief, which had afforded 
much amusement to the natives. Large robberies 
are not common with the Nicaraguans; but they 
are much given to this petty pilfering, which is 
very annoying. 

On the 25th we began to drop down the river, 
now very low : I was only able to hire men from place 
to place. At this season of the year all the Indians 
are engaged in working on their plantations ; the 
weather being dry, they burn patches on the banks 
of the rivers, and clear new provision grounds. The 
three following days, while awaiting the arrival of 
a pit-pan and men to pursue our journey, we 
remained at the house of an old lady with six sons. 

Having spoken so much of the Woolwa Indians, 
it may not be amiss to add a description of their 
personal appearance. The men are generally rather 
under the middle size, muscular, but often rather 
squat, probably from being so frequently in their 



238 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



pit-pans ; the expression of their faces is usually 
good-natured ; the eyes are black, large, and bril- 
liant, the nose prominent, and as a rule aquiline; 
the mouth rather large, and the lips thin ; the skin 
is of a warm chocolate colour. The young men are 
very handsome. As I mentioned before, they have 
a custom of flattening the heads of their infants. 
I frequently have seen babies with their foreheads 
so compressed by the broad flap attached to the 
head of the cradle, that their eyes seemed ready 
to start out of the sockets. They do not, however, 
seem to suffer pain, and I fancied them to be quieter 
than the average of young children. The flattened 
forehead in the adults would probably escape the 
notice of a casual observer, on account of the thick, 
heavy masses of hair that cover it. I am not aware 
that the Rama or the Moskito follow this curious 
custom, which, as practised by the Woolwa, is very 
similar to that of many of the North American 
tribes. The name, Woolwa, must, I think, have 
originated in a nickname, as these Indians always 
call themselves Soumoo, and the traders also make 
use of the same word in reference to them. 

A party of Indians arrived one evening with a 
net; they were going to proceed up the river, to 
drag in succession the numerous pools scattered 
among the huge boulders of rocks now rising above 
the stream, but covered in the rainy season by 
raging and foaming torrents. 

The Indians seemed to consider their work 
rather dangerous, especially on dark nights, from 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 239 



the number of venomous snakes which infest the 
neighbouring banks. In exchange for a bone- 
handled knife and a few steel beads, I obtained from 
one of the young men of the party some of the 
handsome bead-collars worn by the natives in full 
dress. 

Close to the landing-place stood a very fine vine- 
grown tree, which was a great resort for small birds, 
parroquets, finches, fly-catchers, and the beautiful 
and conspicuous, though common, black and blue 
creeper (Ccereba cyanca), that Temple informed me 
was only a visitor during the dry season. Indian 
boys secure small birds alive by stunning them 
with arrows, fashioned at the points into a broad, 
button-like head ; the Klings of India, I believe, are 
in the habit of using pellets of clay from a " sum- 
pitan" for the same purpose. Several kinds of 
caterpillar were much dreaded by the natives ; but 
these do not appear to be so virulent as the South 
African species spoken of by Chapman, which, if 
they come in contact with the skin, are said to cause 
irritation for months afterwards. 

On the 29th I started again, with Temple, two 
men from the neighbouring village, and one of our 
hostess's six sons, whom the poor old lady was much 
distressed to part with ; when he stepped into the 
canoe, she sat down, covering her face with her 
hands, and crying in the subdued manner which is 
peculiar to Indian women. The other two young 
men, who, it appeared, had been in the employ of 
Temple at Blewfields, said that it would take five 



240 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



days to go from this river to the Cooringwass, partly 
by way of a creek and partly through the forest. 
This intelligence decided me — my ankles being still 
unhealed — to give up the idea I had entertained of 
entering Pearl Cay Lagoon by the Cooringwass, the 
usual Indian route, as it flows into the northern 
portion of the lagoon. 

On our way down the river we saw a great 
many of the pretty little pigeons -Peristela cinerea, 
flying generally in pairs ; the hen bird is brown, 
but I was unable to obtain a specimen. 

At Woukee, where we passed the night, we 
found that, in pursuance of their custom, all the 
people had left the lodges on the high bank, and 
were camped on the little gravel island in the midst 
of the river below. Sleeping in the open air at 
this dry season would have been delightful, had it 
not been for the sand-flies and other creatures which 
tormented us. We started in good time the next 
morning, and passed the Second Hill before men- 
tioned ; but ere doing so we were obliged to make 
several portages, owing to the sinking of the river. 
Once we made no less than six, including the long 
one over the hill ; the black rocks were so hot that 
I could hardly walk on them with my bare feet, and 
standing still was quite out of the question. On 
one occasion, I had noticed Temple, who was in 
front, had gone a long way round, but thinking 
that he must have been looking for something, I 
took a short cut across what appeared to be a smooth 
shore of white sand; I had scarcely reached the 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



241 



middle, when my feet sank in, and I discovered that 
it was so intensely hot as almost to blister the skin, 
and by a series of desperate strides I arrived at the 
water's edge, and learned by this experience to be 
more careful in future. 

That night we camped on a shingly beach, near 
a gigantic fig-tree. This is a very handsome orna- 
ment of the forest, but does not in the least 
resemble the cultivated fig ; it has long trailing 
branches and gloomy leaves, and the large howling 
monkeys are very fond of it, generally frequenting 
its vicinity. 

After dark I heard a shrill whistle close to 
our camp, which the men said was the tapir, or 
mountain-cow, calling to its young. 

The next day we passed the settlement where I 
had seen a very pretty little parroquet as we 
ascended the river. I landed with Temple, in 
hoj)es of being able to get it for my sister, but only 
found women there, all the men having gone down 
to Blewfields. 

When Indians arrive at a place where none 
but women are at home, they do not land, but occa- 
sionally hold communication with them from the 
canoe. 

Although this was Sunday, we were obliged 
to travel some distance, as our provisions were fast 
diminishing. The birds turned out in endless 
flocks, as if they knew it was Sunday ; so I shot 
a large bittern, off which we made a good dinner. 
We also came across a number of the beautiful 

R 



242 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



Muscovy ducks, but unfortunately my gun was not 
loaded. In the evening we saw a company of red 
monkeys among the bamboo, and being in want 
of meat, we put Temple on shore, that he might 
take one for supper. 

On the 1st of April we started in good time, 
passing the First Hill (the longest portage), and 
camped on the rocks some distance below. On the 
upper part of these rivers there are many flat 
rocks, which I always chose as the most desirable 
camping places in this damp climate. 

The river was now very low, and the Indians 
used after dark to take a brand from the fire in one 
hand, a fish-arrow in the other, and walk about the 
shallow margin of the stream, in search of cray-fish 
and crabs, which they secured by a lucky arrow- 
thrust, and then dropped on the embers to cook; 
they also ate the freshwater snails, cooking them in 
the same manner. 

We passed the Moroding Falls about the middle 
of the next day, and again camped on some rocks, 
making our suppers off Woukee bittern. 

The Woolwa are very skilful in the manage- 
ment of their canoes, especially in the more difficult 
parts of the river. In descending a rapid, one man 
stands in the fore, with a pole balanced in the 
middle; with this he touches the pieces of rock, 
right and left, as the canoe shoots along, thus 
warding off the prow when apparently on the 
point of dashing against them; another man (or 
the wife) sits with a paddle over the stern, and 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



243 



assists with a timely stroke of the broad blade. 
When we came to a rapid, we lightened the canoe 
by landing Temple and one of the Woolwa. I 
remained in the "pit-pan" with the other two, pre- 
ferring this to a walk over the sharp rocks, so often 
scorching from the heat of the sun's rays. 

Soon after daybreak the next morning, we 
passed the spot which had been our second camping 
place in ascending the river from Kissalala. I was 
surprised, when I sat down on one of the fragments 
of rock near the fire, to find that its surface had 
been evidently carved in some flowery pattern in 
bold relief; for, although much water-worn, the 
pattern, somewhat similar to that seen on the arms 
and legs of European tables and chairs, was dis- 
tinctly visible. Temple told me of high rocks 
on the Rusewass that are completely covered with 
figures of men and women, and other devices. He 
also asserted to have seen on the same river a pool 
among the rocks which, when the river was low, 
continually boiled up, throwing out clouds of steam, 
and killing all the fish within its range. 

There is a small, yellow-breasted bird of the 
family of flycatchers (Syranindce)^ about the size 
of a yellow bunting, which is very common on this 
river; it is called, in Moskito, Kisscadee, and lives 
on insects taken on the wing, in much the same 
manner as our English flycatcher, This bird looks 
as meek as a dove, but I saw one attack a large 
Woukee bittern, whose leg I had broken with a 
shot. On another occasion, I saw several of them 



24:4: AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 

maintaining a very successful warfare with one 
of the large crab-catching hawks. They have a 
great advantage in always keeping above their 
enemies, and, as they fly, striking down at them. 

Jaguars, or " tigres," as they are called here, do 
not seem to be uncommon in the forests, but I never 
had the good fortune to encounter one personally. 
The puma is also seen occasionally. I remarked at 
one of the villages a Woolwa boy whose forehead 
had been totally disfigured by a blow from the paw 
of one of these tawny brutes. He had been left 
alone in the encampment while the men went out to 
catch fish. On hearing his cries they hurried back, 
and were just in time to save him, by driving their 
arrows into the puma's body. 

In the afternoon we passed Kissalala, which 
place presented a most desolate appearance. The 
thatch already had been blown partly off the 
houses, and the whole land was choked up with 
weeds. I had heard from Kennedy and his son, 
whom we met on their return from cutting plantains 
in their -pm vision-grounds, that Teribio and the rest 
of the Kissalala people had not come back to the 
settlement since their desertion on account of the 
u sickness," but were now encamped lower down 
the river. We fell in with them that afternoon 
near the mouth of the Rusewass, and they all* 
seemed glad to see me again. Teribio said he 
would come to Blewfielcls in three days, to receive 
payment for going up the river with me, and gave 
Temple a knotted cord to mark the time, according 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



245 



to their custom. He was also to bring the young 
monkey I had entrusted to his care ; it was now 
very tame. These animals carry their young on 
the back, and should the mother be shot, of course 
both fall to the ground together, and the little 
monkey is secured before it can regain the trees ; 
but it will rarely leave the body of its mother 
voluntarily. Monkeys, when required as pets, are 
caught in this way. 

We took our evening meal at the camp, and 
pushed on by starlight, passing the Rusewass and 
the Rama mouth ; and not liking to lie down on the 
banks in the dark, for fear of snakes, we slept in 
the pit-pan. 

I heard that on the Rusewass, besides the 
figures of monkeys, &c., there is some " writing" 
cut into the face of a rock. May not this be some 
inscription in Latin, left by the early Jesuit mis- 
sionaries ? — who, it is well known, in their untiring 
zeal, penetrated to the remotest quarters of the 
globe. 

We started again on the morning of the 4th 
of April, about two hours before daybreak, which 
always presented an imposing scene on the river. 
A steamy mist generally hung over the surface of 
the water, and not a sound was to be heard, save 
the strokes of the paddles, and the occasional hoarse 
croaking of the tiger-bittern as he rose with heavy 
wing from the bamboo or reeds where we had dis- 
turbed him. We breakfasted at the usual halting- 
place, called Starhouse, which was the only suitable 



246 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



spot for making a fire for some distance. I here 
tasted the eggs of the iguana, of which the Indians 
had found great numbers, as this was the season 
for laying; in flavour, they are not unlike ducks' 
eggs : two or three dozen are generally found 
together. The iguana, alligator, and freshwater 
turtle all lay their eggs at this period, and bury 
them (much in the same manner) in the dry sand 
on the river's banks ; but I was never able to conquer 
my aversion sufficiently to taste those of the alli- 
gator. The eggs are very artfully concealed, but 
the natives are equally clever at discovering them. 
When, from the aj^pearance of the sand, they 
imagine it has been disturbed, they cut a long, 
slight wand, and thrust it down a considerable 
depth ; should the point, when withdrawn, have 
some moist jwticles adhering to it, they examine 
and smell them, and, having come to a satisfactory 
conclusion, immediately turn up the sand until they 
find the eggs ; as the shell is exceedingly hard, they 
are thrown into a heap, and then taken down to the 
canoe. In the latter portion of our journey, we 
often stopped for this purpose, wherever the quick 
eyes of the Indians discerned a favourable spot. 

In passing a thick cluster of broken and en- 
tangled bamboo, we found a large hicatee, or fresh- 
water turtle, wedged fast between the stems close 
to the margin of the stream. It had, no doubt, 
been disturbed by our approach, while on the bank 
for the purpose of laying its eggs, and had got into 
its present predicament in endeavouring to regain 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



247 



the water ; it was wedged so firmly, that the Indians 
had to use their machetes freely before they could 
extract it, and place it in the canoe, where it re- 
mained helplessly on its back for the rest of the 
journey. 

We met, as we advanced, two Woolwa pit-pans 
on their way home to Woukee ; most of the women 
had bitterns, or puppies, which they had obtained 
at Blewfields. 

Presently we came to a plantation belonging to 
Temple, pleasantly situated on a point formed by 
the junction of Mahogany Creek with the main 
river. Temple found his family there ; so we went 
no farther that day, but had a very good supper 
with the people of the place, consisting of dried 
turtle and the usual plantain and cassada, to which 
I added a coujJe of bittern, shot during the morn- 
ing. The meal was laid out on freshly- cut banana 
leaves, and spread on the hard ground in front of 
the bamboo hut. On this day, for the first time 
after leaving Kaka, we had a shower of rain. 



248 



CHAPTER VII. 

On the 5th I continued my journey to Blew- 
fields, in one of Temple's dorys, paddled by 
Melville, Temple, and another Creole lad. Temple 
was to follow, as the pit-pan was too deeply laden 
to cross the open lagoon with safety. We stopped 
for a few minutes at another Creole plantation 
belonging to Crawford, the man in charge of Dr. 
Green's house at Blewfields. They were engaged 
in boiling sugar-cane juice, and presented me with 
a bowl of it warm, which I found very good. 

In the afternoon we gained the mouth of the 
river, where the country, once covered by a fine 
forest, now presented a still stranger aspect than when 
I saw it before in the month of November. Most 
of the shattered and decayed trees which were 
then standing had now fallen, and their bleached 
trunks lay piled up in shoals, like the whitened 
skeletons of immense animals. 

We had had to paddle against a strong wind 
down the river, and had run aground in sailing 
across the lagoon by moonlight, and were delayed 
some time in setting the canoe afloat again ; there- 
fore it was late when we got to Blewfields. During 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



249 



our sail we had passed many large fish, coursing 
rapidly through the dark water all round, and 
leaving in their wake phosphorescent light. I took 
my tea of roast plantain, and enjoyed a pipe at 
Temple's house, and then, wrapping myself in my 
blanket, lay down on a bench. 

Next day I went to the Mission-house, where, 
as usual, I was most kindly received by Mr. and 
Mrs. Liinclberg, who put into my hand a large 
bundle of letters, which had been accumulating for 
a long time, and expressed their pleasure to see me 
again in such good health. 

I much enjoyed the simple Moravian service the 
first Sunday after my arrival ; it was still held in 
the school-room, as the church was not yet re- 
built. 

I put up my hammock again at Dr. Green's 
house, and during the time I remained at Blew- 
fields I often persuaded Crawford to go out shooting 
with me early in the morning, before the sun rose 
high. He used to bring round his dory to the little 
jetty of stones before the house about daybreak. 
We then sailed across the lagoon to some unfre- 
quented part of the shore, and paddled amongst the 
creeks and mangroves at the north end, or along 
the inside of Deer Island, generally returning at 
mid-day. 

Besides the birds I shot myself, the young men 
often brought me some of their own capture to skin, 
in exchange for a fishing-line, a few hooks, and 
other things of equal use to them. 



250 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



After the lessons at the Mission-house were 
over, the dusky scholars sailed their boats along the 
shore, reminding me of the London boys on the 
Serpentine. The Blewfields urchins, however, are 
in the habit of disrobing to wade through the 
shallow water; and their boats, though merely 
home-made models of their fathers' dorys, generally 
sail much better than English boys 1 self-constructed 
vessels. 

On the 11th, I went out in Crawford's dory for a 
sail among the little islands or cays in the lagoon, 
and along the shore of Deer Island, on which we 
saw many racoons. I also saw a curious bird, the 
boat-bill, called by the Indians " Cooper." The 
little green heron is everywhere common by the 
water's side, and is easily recognised, while yet 
unseen, by its loud cry of " tuk-tuk-tuk," from 
which it derives its native name. The noise it 
makes is loud enough to be produced by a much 
larger bird. 

The coast canoes, or dorys, sail very well ; 
in fact, Crawford said that he had once run sixty 
miles in eight hours in one of these boats. Mrs. 
Crawford, who was a fine specimen of the coloured 
people of this coast, showed me many little atten- 
tions. When I came in, as was often the case, 
during mid-day's heat, she would have a nice clean 
cloth spread in their cool bamboo house, with a 
bowl of soup, some bread-fruit, or plantain, and 
plenty of refreshing syrup, of which they here use 
a great deal. I would then go home to preserve 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



251 



the birds shot during the morning, and spend the 
evening with my kind friends at the Mission- 
house. 

The dry weather still held out, and it would 
have been oppressively hot but for the strong 
north-east sea-breeze. The most tiring part of the 
day was before ten o'clock, until which time the sea- 
breeze did not set in. 

On Sunday, the 14th, there was a very inter- 
esting service at the Mission-house — Baptism and 
the Confirmation of Adults. 

I had once a conversation with Crawford on the 
subject of some Indian antiquities which were 
found in the neighbourhood ; they consisted of 
broken pottery and stone hatchets (the former 
moulded in the shapes of heads of men and 
animals). These curiosities were found in large 
mounds of cockle-shells, when cutting away the 
jungle to form new provision-grounds, at a place 
called Cookra Point, the next headland in the 
lagoon to the south of which Blewfields is situated. 
A specimen in Mr. Liindberg's possession was a very 
good representation of the head of a wild hog, 
or warry. I went one day with Mr. Pinnock, 
the schoolmaster of the Mission, a native of 
Jamaica, for the express purpose of searching these 
cockle-mounds at Cookra Point, hoping to find some 
relics, but there was little to be seen but fragments 
of pottery, somewhat differing in shape and pattern 
from that made by the Woolwa Indians. These 
mounds are now completely overgrown with dense 



252 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



jungle, except in places where they have been laid 
bare in the making of provision-grounds for cassada 
and plantain. 

Teribio, according to promise, came to Blew- 
fields, bringing with him the little monkey that we 
had secured at Kaka, and which he had educated 
for me ; it was now the tamest and gentlest monkey 
I had ever seen. 

I found it very difficult in this country to pre- 
serve the insects which I captured, especially the 
butterflies ; they were all in constant danger from 
the ants, and in the wet season the mould and 
mildew were nearly as destructive. I was only 
able to procure a few land shells ; they do hot seem 
to be plentiful here, the Creoles being unacquainted 
Avith the word " snail." 

No little excitement was caused in the place at 
this time by the arrival of a new missionary and 
his wife, in the " Messenger of Peace." They were 
received by a large portion of the congregation, 
who assembled on the stone jetty singing hymns. 
It was a very pretty sight as the canoe approached 
from the Mission schooner, which lay some distance 
off, riding lightly on the moon-lit waters of the 
lagoon, that danced and rippled on the sand and 
stones, under the influence of the gentle sea-breeze. 
Two North Americans also came from Grey Town 
in a Carib boat to see the place, intending to extend 
their trip to the Corn Islands off the coast, which 
form part of the Moskito territory. 

The Lenten services at the Mission were very 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



253 



numerous, and there was always a remarkably large 
and attentive congregation. 

A number of jaguars, forced probably from the 
woods by the scarcity of game since the destructive 
hurricane, had been committing great havoc among 
the goats, pigs, &c, belonging to the inhabitants. 
In order to put a stop to these depreciations, traps 
were set in the most likely places, but for a long 
time without success. However, one night, an old 
lady, one of the last of the original white settlers, 
hearing a commotion among her live stock, ran out 
to see what was the matter ; her surprise, no doubt, 
was great when she found herself face to face with 
a large jaguar. She did not lose her presence of 
mind, but flourishing an umbrella, the only thing 
she had in her hand, she suddenly opened it full in 
the animal's eyes ; upon which he was so startled, 
that possibly desiring to escape, and seeing only 
one opening, he immediately sprang through the 
door of the trap, which closed upon him securely, 
and the next morning he was executed without 
difficulty. 

Temple had been away for some time, but as he 
had now returned we made several expeditions 
together. One morning we tried to obtain some of 
the white cranes, but they were very shy, and re- 
mained too far off on the dry shoals about the river's 
mouth. We afterwards went to Cookra Point, 
where, when I was with Mr. Pinnock, I had heard 
in all directions the peculiar mellow cry of the cock 
yellow-tail (Ostinops Montezuma), The plumage 



254 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 

of these handsome birds is of a deep russet-brown, 
changing to black on the head and neck, and the 
tail-feathers are of a bright yellow ; the top of the 
beak is coral-red, and the cheeks pale blue. They 
are sociable in their habits, living and breeding in 
flocks, and the branches of some favourite tree may 
often be seen covered with their long pendent nests. 
The difference in size between the cock and the hen 
is very great, although the plumage is the same. 
They are probably attracted to these plantations by 
the quantity of ripe " panpa" and banana. I was 
told that large flocks of a smaller kind were seen at 
certain seasons of the year. 

We shot six, but only secured two, in spite of 
Temple's use of the machete, the undergrowth of 
bush and wild cane being so matted together by 
creepers and bush-ropes. In cutting through this 
jungle, we came repeatedly upon those large mounds 
of cockle-shells already mentioned. 

After a fatiguing but an agreeable morning, we 
repaired in the mid-day heat to the cool and shady 
beach, where the canoe had been drawn up, and 
regaled ourselves with green cocoa-nuts from one of 
Temple's trees that grew near. I have often drunk 
off three of the green nuts in succession when 
thirsty, for a large quantity of this delicious and 
slightly acid fluid may be taken without leaving 
any of the unpleasant feeling which would supervene 
after drinking a like quantity of water ; and it is, I 
think, at the same time, the most cooling and refresh- 
ing beverage that it is possible to take on a hot day. 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



255 



We frequently went again to Cookra Point. A 
great variety of butterflies were visible in the 
thickets of sage and guava bushes in the rear of 
the settlement. 

The half-yearly Congress now took place at the 
Mission-house, to be present at which the mis- 
sionaries congregated from the different stations 
along the coast. Captain Pirn arrived the same day 
from Grey Town ; so that, with the two Americans 
and myself, there was quite a large party to dine at 
the hospitable table of Mr. Liindberg. 

Captain Pirn started that evening for the purpose 
of ascending the Woolwa river as far as Kissalala ; 
he took an extra complement of paddles for his 
canoe, saying that he intended to make the quickest 
trip that had ever been made : and he certainly was 
speedy, for he returned to Blewfields at 7.30 in the 
evening of the 30th. His object was, I believe, to 
inspect the lower part of the river, in connexion 
with the proposed route to the Chontales mines. 

Cheese from Nicaragua frequently finds its way 
down the Blewfields river to the coast, where it is 
much esteemed ; it is brought down by the Woolwa, 
having been passed by them, from one hand to 
another, from the border settlements. 

Considerable excitement was caused at Blew- 
fields by news received that the Nicaraguans con- 
templated possession of what remained of the 
Moskito territory. It was even mooted that an 
embassy should be despatched to Lord Stanley, in 
order to put in an appearance in opposition to that 



256 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



sent by the Nicaraguans. A public meeting was 
held on the 1st of May at the King's House, over 
which Captain Pirn presided ; the men attended in 
large numbers, and discussed the encroachments of 
the Nicaraguans, and the best means of stopping 
their further progress. Captain Pirn promised that, 
as there was no person in England to plead their 
cause, he would defend them to the utmost of his 
ability. Some resolutions were also passed, not 
very favourable to the manner in which their officers 
had discharged their trust ; and these were to be 
brought before the executive council, which was to 
meet in September, when the Moskito chiefs from 
the northern part of the country were to be present. 
The meeting broke up in the usual way, and the 
next morning Captain Pirn returned to Grey Town. 

I called one day, whilst out shooting, at the little 
cay on which Mr. Elian, an Englishman, lived with 
all his family ; but he had been unwell for some 
time, and was now quite laid up, so that I missed 
seeing him. The view from the highest point of 
this little island, which is called Cassada Cay, is 
the most beautiful in the neighbourhood : the ocean 
and Blewnelds Bluff on one side, and the lagoon, 
with its diminutive cays, on the other ; in the 
distance, the high blue hills behind Monkey Point 
form a prospect which is scarcely to be surpassed 
in lpveliness. 

Mr. Lundberg kindly offered me a passage in a 
canoe about to leave for the Mission Station at 
Pearl Cay Lagoon, which I accepted, thinking that 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



257 



it would be a good opportunity of visiting that 
locality before the rain set in. The weather during 
the greater part of May was beautifully fine, but 
very warm. On the 2nd of the month, having put 
together my guns, some ammunition, and other 
necessaries, I went to the little jetty in front of the 
Mission-house, where I found the large canoe 
waiting. We started about seven o'clock in the 
evening, and took nearly the whole night to beat 
round the bluff, as the tide was running in. After 
arriving at Pearl Cay Lagoon, and passing between 
the low, sandy shores at the mouth of this large 
sheet of water, we sailed across to the settlement 
of English Bank. The only prominent object on 
entering the lagoon is Cookra Hill, which rises 
beyond the savannahs that skirt the shore in that 
direction. We landed in the afternoon at the boat- 
house of the Magdala Mission Station, where the 
minister, Mr. Grunewald, and his good lady received 
me very kindly, and prepared a good cup of coffee, 
of which I stood much in need ; for, in consequence 
of the boat having been full, I had not lain down 
all night. 

Magdala is built much the same as Blewfields, 
but upon lower and more sandy ground, with a 
savannah behind and hills in the distance, but of 
no great elevation, Cookra Hill being the highest. 
It is so called from a tribe of Cookra Indians, who 
are said to live in the forest beyond ; one of these, 
a settler in this place, was pointed out to me : he 

seemed taller and slighter than most of the Woolwa 

s 



258 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS* 



Indians, and of rather lighter complexion. I heard 
that a few members of this tribe had become "tame," 
and had settled on the northern side of the lagoon. 
Many strange stories are told about these people, 
who are represented to be as wild as deer, wandering 
about the densest parts of the forest, which are 
inhabited by the Woolwa, and never making a 
lodge or canoes. 

After dinner, Mr. Grimewald walked through 
the village with me. At one of the houses, a man 
had just returned from a successful hunt, having 
killed two large manatee, one of which weighed 
over a hundredweight. These animals bear some 
resemblance to the seal, and feed on the long rank 
grass growing on the banks of swampy rivers, creeks, 
and lagoons ; they are found in large numbers on 
the northern side of the lagoon. 

The next morning I took my gun and went for 
a stroll on the savannah, and passed, at a short 
distance, through a village of Moskito peoj)le of 
mixed race. This place is called Hawl-over, being 
situated on the lagoon, near the spot where the 
canoes are hauled over to a creek when going by 
the inner route to Blewfields Lagoon. A number of 
cachew-trees grew wild all round : as it was very 
hot, I quenched my thirst with the juicy fruit. 
The walk in the open country was very enjoyable — 
a change from the canoe mode of locomotion that I 
had been obliged to resort to, on account of the 
dense woods interrupting land travelling, with much 
disadvantage. The fires occurring at the periodical 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



259 



burning of the grass cause much destruction among 
the pine-woods upon the savannahs. The pine and 
the palm here grow together. One day, when 
shooting among the pines, I slightly winged two 
very handsome hawks ( Astur magnirostris), which 
I managed to secure, and carry home in the creel 
I had on my back. After having kept and fed them 
for more than a week, one of them made its escape, 
when its wound had healed; the other followed it 
the next day, at which I was much vexed, as they 
were beautiful birds, and in full plumage. 

A very large jaguar had been committing cattle 
depredations at the settlement; and once, when out 
on the savannah, I saw the tracks on the sand, and 
judged from their dimensions that the animal must 
have been of unusual size. Mr. Grunewald had, I 
believe, lost twelve of his finest cows. 

Birds are by no means numerous in this neigh- 
bourhood; but the cry of the Psitorhinusmoris, 
u Pean-pean," as the natives call it, from its note, 
is always to be heard on the savannah. It has 
a curious knob of skin at the base of the neck, 
which, I suppose, can be inflated at pleasure. In 
colour, it is a sort of dull drab, shaded underneath 
with white, and its tail feathers are tipped with 
white. In habits, this bird resembles the magpie, 
hopping on the ground and amongst the branches 
of the trees in the same springy manner. The 
u hen-hawk," as the Creoles call it [Astur magniros- 
tris), is very common among the pine walks in the 
savannahs, and large green parrots fly in chattering 



260 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



pairs overhead morning and evening. Their flight 
is exceedingly rapid and powerful. Trogons, pigeons, 
and other birds were to be seen in the thickets 
round Hawl-over, and a red-headed woodpecker. 
I also shot a little bird, the Attila citropygius. 
The Dryocopus scapularis is common in the clumps 
of trees that are scattered at intervals over the 
savannahs, but, as I before observed, there are very 
few land birds. 

A sluggish little stream wound through the 
savannah between marshy banks from the direction 
of Cookra Hill into the lagoon, just below the 
Moskito village of Eitepoora ; it was full of fish of 
different kinds. Some I saw caught by a Moskito 
man, were rather assimilating to large perch in form, 
but spotted like trout. Hicatee, or freshwater 
turtle, and swarms of juvenile alligators, were to 
be seen with their snouts above the turbid water. 
The little green heron, or tuk-tuh, had its abode 
among the water-lilies, and the white crane was 
visible in the distance, but, being very shy, it 
would not admit of a near approach. Some large 
snipe, and sometimes, though rarely, a Muscovy 
duck, would rise from the sedge. 

Mr. Grunewald very kindly put one of his canoes 
at my service, and engaged to accompany me a 
young man named Delancy, of very mixed race; 
indeed, these self-styled Creoles are generally so 
mixed that it is impossible to discover which tribe 
they belong to, and therefore one must use their 
own name in default of a better. 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



261 



The traveller is here reminded of Christmas, as 
at home, by little observances kept up by the 
coloured Creoles, and probably learnt by them from 
the stray English of the West India Islands from 
time to time settling at various points on this coast. 
Among others, may be mentioned that of dressing 
out a small tree in the pleasant month of May, after 
the manner of the old English Maypole of the 
village-green. I was also surprised at Christmas 
to hear Temple and the Creoles talk of " egg-flip." 



262 



CHAPTER VIII. 

May 10th. — I accompanied Mr. Grunewald to the 
neighbouring Moskito settlement of Hawl-over, 
where he held a prayer-meeting once a week, and 
preached to the people in their own tongue. The 
scene, although so simple, would have made a good 
subject for a painter. The missionary standing, 
book in hand, in the centre of the roughly-thatched 
hut, surrounded by a circle of dusky listeners, the 
men on one side and the women on the other, 
speaking to them pleadingly in the sonorous Moskito 
language; whilst outside, in the sunlight, some 
thoughtless girls were laughingly peeping through 
the crevices between the palmetto, or poptard, steins, 
or leaning listlessly in their scanty but picturesque 
attire against the posts of the doorway. 

Although, no doubt, in the old times the Moskito 
men were very superior in war to the Woolwa, 
Rama, and other tribes of the country, yet they 
do not appear to me at present to bear a very 
favourable comparison with them, mixed, as they 
have become in most of their villages (with the 
exception, I believe, of a few to the north, towards 
Sandy Cay), with former African slaves from Cuba 
and other parts of the "West Indies. 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 263 



There was an old African from Cuba at Magdala 
at the period of my visit, who, though he had joined 
the Moravian Church, still wore a little wooden 
cross susj)ended from his neck, of which he seemed 
to entertain a great opinion. 

I now went out shooting every evening around 
the lagoon, accompanied by Delancy. This youth 
had heard from some quarter that I was in the 
habit of sketching, or " taking pictures," and, im- 
mediately after my arrival, he and some of his 
friends wanted their " likenesses taken." I had 
been besieged in the same manner at Blewfields, 
having once thoughtlessly given a handsome young 
Creole a sketch I had taken of him, which I suppose 
had been handed about; for afterwards nearly all 
the young men and girls sought every opportunity 
of making a request for "their pictures," often 
stopping me in the path, coming to me in my 
quarters, and hanging about until I asked them 
what they wanted, well knowing what the answer 
would be. This incident should be a caution to 
travellers. 

About the shores of the lagoon were great 
numbers of a handsome rail, which the Creoles call 
" topknot chick" (Aramides Caycnnensis) ; it is very 
delicate eating, the flesh being milk-white. It has 
a habit of skulking under the reeds and bushes on 
the shores during the day, and sometimes, when 
congregated in marshy places, makes a great noise 
by chattering in chorus. When shot, it goes 
through more contortions than any other bird I know 



264 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



of, not running away when wounded, but invariably 
tumbling on the ground, kicking and fluttering 
about in the most violent manner. A large red- 
breasted kingfisher (Ceryle torquatajis very common 
in all the lagoons and the lower part of the rivers ; 
and blue and white garlings (Ardea ccerulea) are 
seen on nearly all the shoals and creeks : these 
latter have an exceedingly graceful appearance 
when seen feeding in the shallows amongst the 
interlaced mangrove roots. 

The oyster-catchers were very regular in their 
visits to the oyster-banks near the mouth of the 
lagoon, arriving when the tide was low (although 
the difference here was not very great), and going 
out again along the coast when the tide rose. In 
sailing over the lagoon, I occasionally saw water- 
snakes (Hydridce?) swimming on the surface; 
probably bent on crossing the expanse of water. 

The attendance here, as at Blewfields, at the 
mission services was very large in proportion to 
the size of the place; and I noticed that some 
Moskito people came from Hawl-over and Ritej^oora 
to join the Magdala congregation. A Woolwa lad, 
named Ramong, used to sit on a seat near the door ; 
he had a very intelligent face, although his figure 
was short and squat, and his expression was one 
of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The singing, 
which forms a great part of the Moravian service 
on these occasions, is very hearty, and, although not 
of the finest, might in some respects be advan- 
tageously imitated by more civilized worshippers. 



to 'fuc& 264- 




AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



265 



As the hymns were generally sung to the simple 
grand old tunes of Luther, the whole congregation 
was, without one exception, able to join, and the 
effect was better than that to be obtained by any 
of those paid choirs who select the tunes in order 
to show off their own voices, while the people stand 
and listen. Nearly all the teachers on this coast 
are from Jamaica. Some of the young Moskito 
women also came from the neighbouring villages to 
attend. 

When they approached the precincts of the 
mission, they seemed to think it decorous and 
proper to remove the fastenings of their petticoats, 
usually worn at the waist, to the neck, so as to 
cover the upper part of their finely-rounded persons. 

On the 14th, I went along the sea-beach, by a 
little lagoon and creek, among the mangroves, in 
quest of a flock of scarlet birds called in Moskito 
powra, which I imagined, from the description 
given me, to be the scarlet ibis, said to frequent 
this region. However, I saw nothing of them, 
and only brought back, as the fruit of my expedi- 
tion, three bittern and a few other water-birds. 
Some large snipe were to be seen here, and active 
little sand-pipers ran in great numbers along the 
hot sands which enclosed the lagoon. I shot on 
the savannah a curious little goat-sucker (Chordeiles 
texensis). One day, Mr. Grunewald accompanied 
me to a place called Rocky Point, on the shore of 
the lagoon, where most of the Creoles at English 
Bank, and the Moskitos at Ritepoora, have provision 



266 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



plantations. We saw a great tree covered with the 
large hanging nests of the yellow-tail; but the 
young were fledged, and the flock gone elsewhere. 
A little to the north of Rocky Point is the Moskito 
village of Cockabilla. 

I made another expedition after the "powra" 
from the same place, starting before sunrise; but 
this proved, like the first, a failure. 

The Creoles and the missionaries on the coast 
grow a large quantity of rice for their own con- 
sumption. Cotton, chocolate, sugar-cane, and pine- 
apples are indigenous ; and the Indians, as well 
as the coast-people, raise quantities of plantain, 
banana, and cassada : indeed, the provision-grounds 
return more of these productions than their owners 
require. The principal want is a certain supply 
of flesh. The beautiful bread-fruit tree, introduced 
from the South Seas, is now to be found at the Indian 
settlements far up the river. One tree I noticed 
at Woukee, but they did not seem to make much 
use of it. The cocoa-nut was in former times very 
abundant, though in the southern parts of the 
territory they had been destroyed in great numbers 
by the hurricane of 1865 ; and when I was on the 
coast, the people had just commenced to replant 
them. Once, many of the inhabitants depended 
entirely upon them for subsistence, handing over 
the fruits to the small American trading vessels in 
exchange for necessaries. The kind of life these 
people led may be imagined from the following 
saying, that " it mattered not what they did, for as 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



267 



they lay smoking in their hammocks, night or day, 
they could hear the sound of the falling cocoa-nuts, 
which told them money was accumulating, do what 
they might." What must have been their feelings, 
when, on the morning after the hurricane, they 
found the houses swept away, and their beautiful 
trees, on whose produce they reckoned for support, 
all broken, or their tough stems standing like bare 
poles, the feathery fronds twisted off and wrenched 
away by the rushing winds. 

A little oil is made from the cocoa-nut, and also 
from the nut of the eboe tree. These people never 
eat the ripe cocoa-nuts raw, but use them principally 
for fattening their pigs. 

About this time we had some very heavy showers, 
and on the 18th, while on the lagoon, I was caught 
in the heaviest rain-storm, with thunder and light- 
ning, that I ever remember. I shot a species of 
night-heron (Mychcorax violacea), which the natives 
call "the carpenter": it is one of the few birds 
which they take the trouble to shoot for eating. It 
was fine again the next day, and I was able to have a 
little sport at the south end of the lagoon. All round 
the shores were large flocks of active fly-catchers, 
called the " wees-bird" ( Tyrannies intrepidus), 
and a small falcon (Tinnunculus sparverinsj is often 
seen perched on the tall pine-trees, or winging its 
rapid flight across the savannah in chase of the 
birds on which it 'preys. 

I now determined to make a trip to the north 
part of the lagoon, and started on the 21st in a 



268 AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



dory, accompanied by two men and an elderly Creole 
named John Fox and young Delancy. As we 
sailed along this sheet of water, I could better 
appreciate its size, especially as the men informed 
me that it would take a whole day and part of the 
next night to reach the north end. When we 
started, the weather was fine ; but the sun had not 
ascended far into the heavens before black thunder- 
clouds rolled up from the north-eastern horizon, and 
soon covered the whole expanse of sky, while the 
lightning flashed vividly, and the distant thunder 
muttered, giving us warning, during the stillness 
that intervened, to prepare for the coming storm. 
Presently we saw it ajyproach us in the shape of a 
white squall, a well-defined line of white mist, raised 
from the surface of the water by the violent wind 
and pelting rain. The men had just time to take in 
the sail before it burst upon us, when we could do 
nothing but shelter ourselves as best we might, until 
it had in some measure abated. Then we continued 
our course, and leaving Tasprapowuee, where the 
Moravians have a mission station, to the north-west, 
Ave entered Slapjnng Creek, about two or three 
o'clock in the afternoon, by which time we were 
glad to perceive a slight change in the weather. 
The evening being fine, we took in the sail and 
paddled for some distance up the creek, to shoot 
something for supper. I saw here, for the first 
time, the beautiful heron called by the Moskitos 
"Marara " (A rdea agamij; it was sitting quietly, the 
glossy deep green lea ves of a shrub forming a good 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS1 269 



background to its graceful form, and appeared very 
tame, as if the bird creation in this remote creek 
was not often disturbed by the presence of human 
beings. Old Fox whispered that he heard warry 
in the neighbouring thicket, so I left the heron in 
peace. The banks of the creek being too damp for 
an encampment, we returned to the mouth, near 
which we found a suitable spot among some Secumfra 
palms. The long leaves of this palm, planted into 
the ground and supported against poles, form the 
usual mode of shelter for the Indians of this country. 
A number of the broad waha leaves were then cut 
and placed under this awning, and on them we 
spread our blankets. We had hardly completed our 
preparations, and had not even had time to light a 
fire, when the rain came down so furiously that the 
usually sufficient shelter only partially protected us. 
This continued for a space, while we sat on our 
blankets under the palm leaves ; but at last it abated 
enough to allow of our making the fire, which we 
were able to light by means of the dry under-bark 
of the palms. I then made some tea, but the men 
preferred for themselves a kind of grass, called by 
them u fever-grass," of which they had brought a 
supply : it was prepared by boiling a pot of water, 
into which, after taking it off the fire, they threw a 
handful of the grass, and let it stand for a few 
minutes. I tried some, and found it very palatable ; 
the flavour is not unlike the smell of lavender. 
While we were at supper, the rain began to fall 
again in heavy sheets, so as soon to fill the canoe, 



270 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



which was hauled up at our feet ; it made its way 
through the palm-leaves above us, wetting us 
thoroughly as we lay in our blankets, and continued 
all night and far into the morning, while the 
thunder rolled and the lightning blazed; conse- 
quently, it was nearly the middle of the day before 
we were able to leave our camp for a little shooting 
in the creek. 

I shot several of the beautiful " Marara" which 
I skinned and dressed on the spot. The evening 
turning out fine, we again paddled up the creek, 
which literally swarmed with Woukee bitterns, 
boatbills, darters, and other water-birds. It was 
surprising how they could find food enough in 
so small a space. As we paddled along, the bushy 
trees appeared to be alive with the odd-looking 
boatbills, fluttering and flying out in all directions, 
seemingly convulsed with hysterical laughter. There 
are two kinds of curassow: the more common is 
black, with a white belly ; the other, called the 
Queen Curassow, is checked all over, in much the 
same manner as the tiger-bittern. It is an exceed- 
ingly handsome bird when seen in the woods, and 
erects its elegant crest most gracefully as it utters 
its deep note. A pair of the pretty little russet- 
brown u jacana" with lemon-coloured wing-feathers, 
kept flying in front of us, as we proceeded up the 
creek, alighting from time to time on the floating- 
grass which covered the water near the bank : 
owing to the immense length of their toes, they 
were able to support themselves on this. I saw 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS a 



271 



also several of the mud-hens (Aramus scolopaceus), 
esteemed as a delicacy by the Creoles. Darters 
were breeding high up the creek; their downy 
young being generally seen in pairs in a nest 
formed of sticks, usually placed on a branch over- 
hanging the water. They dropped out as we 
approached, diving and swimming about very 
actively ; but whether they were able to return to 
the nest afterwards, is more than I can say. The 
darter seems to have much difficulty in keeping its 
balance when perching on trees, the feet being 
placed on the body considerably behind the point 
of equilibrium : this formation gives them great 
power of swimming under water, but makes them 
look awkward when out of that element. The neck 
is long and snake-like, and the beak curiously 
serrated, and admirably adapted for seizing fish 
beneath the surface. The eggs are bluish-white, 
with rather a chalky shell, small for the size of the 
bird, and aro considered good eating by the Creoles. 

The night proved fine, and we passed it very 
comfortably, sleeping in the dory, shoved off a 
little from the land, out of the way of mosquitoes. 
The next morning we went up the creek early, and 
I shot several birds, some of which I skinned as we 
went along, and the rest I finished after our return. 
The men struck two of the large fish called u snook" 
with their harpoons. After proceeding some way 
up the creek, we were obliged to flatten ourselves 
along the bottom of the canoe, to pass under the 
trunks of large trees which had fallen across. Two 



272 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



of the trees on the bank were inhabited by the 
yellow-tail, which were constantly flying in and 
out of their singular nests. On our way down the 
creek we had heard warry; so loading our guns 
with buck-shot, we went on shore, going in single 
file, as the under-growth was thick, old Fox leading 
the procession. When we came upon a drove, he 
fired a shot, bringing one down ; while Delancy and 
I saw nothing of them, only hearing their rush as 
they charged away through the thickets, and the 
groans of the wounded animal, which was soon 
despatched, and carried down to the canoe. We 
then proceeded on our way down the creek; but 
near the mouth we heard sounds indicating the 
vicinity of another drove ; and after having, with 
some difficulty, succeeded in forcing an egress 
through the thick green wall of weeds on the edge 
of the stream, we managed to land, and found our- 
selves in a comparatively open forest of secumfra 
palm and tall trees. The soft, damp mould under- 
neath them was cut up with numerous footprints 
of the warry, until it was almost like the soil of an 
English pigsty. Being determined to have a shot 
this time, I kept abreast with Fox, and we presently 
came in full view of the whole drove as they were 
feeding: they soon perceived our presence, and 
rushed past in a body, thus giving us the ojDpor- 
tunity of a splendid shot ; at which old Fox became 
so much excited, that he jumped on a fallen tree 
straight in front of me (at the very moment I 
was about to pull the trigger), and fired, bringing 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS, 



273 



down one of the wild-hogs. It was quite provi- 
dential that he did not receive the contents of my 
barrel in his back. When I told him of his escape, 
he said he was very sorry for spoiling my sport, 
but " he had forgotten I was there." 

On our return, we left Slapping, and landed, early 
in the afternoon, on the narrow sandy shore, about 
halfway down the lagoon, in order to cook a snook 
for dinner, which we ate as we sailed along. We 
arrived at the Mission-house in the evening, and I 
set to work the next morning to finish the birds 
I had partly dressed under such difficulties during 
my expedition. 

The little animal called " quash " by the Creoles, 
and " coati" by the Spaniards, is sometimes seen in 
captivity in the Indian lodges ; it is somewhat like 
the racoon. The nostrils are arranged at the end of 
its long snout in such a manner as effectually to 
prevent earth and sand from getting up the nose 
while it is grubbing for worms, roots, &c. ; this 
snout is exceedingly muscular, pliant, and sensitive : 
the creature has a curious way of protecting it 
from a blow or threatened injury by putting down 
its head, and covering the snout carefully with its 
fore paws. The arms and legs are stout and strong, 
and the feet are armed with claws like those of a 
miniature bear. The habits of the tame "quash" 
in my possession, which now runs about the house 
like a cat, are very droll and interesting ; it has 
formed a strong attachment to the little spider 
monkey, and they never seem tired of playing and 

T 



274 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



frolicking together, their principal point of disagree- 
ment being that Quash is generally sleepy during 
the daytime, and Jacko takes a mean advantage of 
this, and pulls him most unmercifully about by his 
long bushy tail, only to be disturbed in his turn as 
he nods and dozes in front of the fire after tea, by 
which time Quash has become very sprightly, and 
bustles about the room with an air of busy import- 
ance, carrying his bushy tail straight behind him, 
with a gracefully undulating movement. While at 
the Blewfields Mission-house, Quash was a source 
of great amusement and some trouble ; he was very 
friendly with all the dogs, and, unless securely shut 
up, on Sunday he would invariably follow Mr. and 
Mrs. Liindberg to the service ; and on one occasion, 
when unable to do so, he got into the balcony oppo- 
site the church, and, having perched himself on the 
extreme ledge, made such a disturbance with his 
peculiar cry that some one had to be despatched to 
take him back. 



<275 



CHAPTER IX. 

On the 30th, I accompanied Mr. Grunewald on 
his visit to Hawl-over, as I wished to take a sketch 
of the old Soukier, one of a class of men who hold 
much the same place as the " medicine men" in 
North America ; but he pleaded sickness, and would 
on no persuasion come out of his little hut, in which 
he continued to sit in such a manner that I could 
not obtain a glimpse of his face, although I stood 
by in waiting for some time. On a previous day, 
however, I had seen him talking to the men as I 
passed through the settlement : he was tall and 
meagre, with white hair, and altogether very inter- 
esting looking. 

The medicine man, or Soukier, is a person of 
considerable importance in the settlement to which 
he belongs ; he is physician, snake-doctor, and, as 
far as I can understand, priest : he goes through a 
series of grotesque incantations over a sick person, 
and after this has gone on for some time, he pretends 
to grapple with, and ultimately to secure, the spirit 
of the sickness. These people have acquired a 
valuable knowledge of the herbs of the country, 
which they have probably turned to account in 



276 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



devising simple remedies, and they are particularly 
skilful in their treatment of snake-bites. Among 
the Moskitos, the sick people are often banished to 
little temporary shelters, where they are attended 
by the Soulier. On one occasion, at the head of 
the Blewfields River, we met a Soulier posting 
down the stream in haste, having been summoned 
to attend some sick at a settlement low down on the 
Cooringwass : this shows that those of the profession 
who have established a reputation are often sent for 
to a great distance. I may here mention, among 
the insect plagues of this country, the jigger, as it 
is called in the West Indies, and by the Spaniards 
' ' nigua " ; it is very minute, and generally buries itself 
in the foot, principally near the toe-nail, where it 
makes a nest, laying a great number of little white 
eggs, enclosed in a bluish bag. If not then extracted, 
the eggs will hatch, and each young jigger sets up 
on his own account, when the results may become 
very serious. I have seen boys at the settlement at 
Pearl Cay Lagoon whose feet seemed covered with 
warts, and their toes quite out of shape, from the 
number of jiggers they contained ; this, however, 
was chiefly owing to laziness, and a want of care 
and cleanliness in neglecting to wash the feet often 
enough. The nest should be taken out with a 
needle or a sharp penknife as soon as its presence 
is known by the itching ; this being done, no harm 
will follow, even should the bag be broken and 
some of the eggs left in, if the simple precaution be 
taken of filling the hole with the ashes left from a 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



277 



long-smoked tobacco pipe. The first time I made 
the acquaintance of these pests, I did not notice the 
slight itching, considering it only a small thorn, that 
would work itself out. Having let it remain for 
about a fortnight, I was one night kept awake by 
most acute pain, and, on examining the toe in the 
morning, I found it very much inflamed ; and it then 
struck me what might be the real cause of my 
uneasiness. I extracted the eggs, and being advised 
to try the tobacco-ash, I did so, and it succeeded 
perfectly. 

Butterflies were very numerous about the flowers 
of a bush which hung over the lagoon shores, called 
by the natives May-blossom ; but there had been 
such heavy rains of late that the blossoms had 
dropped off, and when I provided myself with 
a net to catch the butterflies, none were to be 
seen. 

The shores of these lagoons are, for the generality, 
lined with a thick growth of red and white mangrove. 
The appearance of these trees is so totally different 
from any we are accustomed to see in Europe, as to 
strike the observer at first sight with wonder ; the 
curved roots that support the trunk rise in interlaced 
arches directly out of the salt water ; and among 
these the waves of the advancing tide ripple and 
dance continually, causing a variety of curious 
sounds. These roots are covered with clusters of 
the little mangrove oysters, and at low tide pecu- 
liar little crabs run over the soft, black mud. The 
boughs which the mangrove throws out, thick, with 



278 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



glossy green leaves, are a great resort for king- 
fishers, herons, and boat-bills. 

In the beginning of June, I left Pearl Cay, on 
my return to Blewfields ; the morning was beautiful, 
the day dawning just as we arrived at the mouth of 
the lagoon. My Woukee bittern, the same bird 
which I had taken from the nest, and which had 
now grown very handsome, gave me much amuse- 
ment on the voyage. No sooner did we pass the 
bar, and find ourselves in the long, tranquil swell 
of the open sea, than he began to show symptoms of 
sea-sickness, being unable to sit upright, and 
twisting his long neck about in the most grotesque 
manner, with the evident intention of bringing up 
his last night's fish supper : at last he " went below," 
under one of the thwarts. 

At this season, immense numbers of turtle pass 
along this coast in a southerly direction, in order to 
deposit their eggs in a certain locality of Costa Rica ; 
there are two kinds, the common turtle and the 
hawk-bill turtle: the shell of the latter furnishes 
the tortoise-shell of commerce. In former times, the 
Creoles made large sums by selling these shells at 
Grey Town, but the demand having fallen off, they 
scarcely take the trouble to hunt them for this pur- 
pose. We found a common turtle stranded on the 
sands; one of its fore-flippers and shoulders had 
been bitten off by a shark. It is a proof of the 
enormous power which these ferocious fish have in 
their jaws, that they can bite through the hard 
enamel-like covering with which the turtle is encased. 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



279 



The brown pelican (Pelicanus fuscus) is com- 
monly seen in small flocks upon the coast and lagoons, 
engaged in fishing, or, with a steady powerful flight, 
pursuing its way to more favourable localities. Its 
mode of fishing is curious : the bird soars upon his 
broad wings to a considerable height, and then, as 
soon as a fish is descried, it descends, beak foremost, 
upon the water with a sudden wheeling evolution, 
and with a force that would seem to dislocate its 
slight neck ; seldom, however, failing to secure its 
prey. At other times, the pelicans may be seen 
swimming like geese in the shallows, composedly 
spooning up the shoals of fry with their capacious 
beaks. The quantities of fish consumed by them 
must be enormous. Occasionally, a solitary indi- 
vidual may be visible, perched, apparently in con- 
templative mood, upon a convenient mangrove 
bough. Alligators of very large size sometimes bask 
on the sands that fringe the swampy slips of land 
dividing the lagoons from the sea. 

There was a great profusion of cocoa-nuts on the 
shore between Pearl Cay Lagoon and Blewfields 
Bluff, round which point we sailed, after a tedious 
passage, and entered the lagoon by the mellow light 
of a beautiful sunset. Tradition says that the buc- 
caneers held Blewfields Bluff as a stronghold, and 
established themselves there, where a well and 
traces of fortification are said to be still visible. 
Here, those sea-rovers of old times allied themselves 
with the Moskito Indians, bade defiance to the 
Spaniards in the days of their greatest power, and 



280 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



stored the treasure which they took in their forays 
among the rich galleons on the Spanish main. The 
place, indeed, looks an appropriate locality for such 
scenes. 

The weather in the beginning of June was un- 
usually fine and dry for this humid coast. I was 
rather surprised to meet at Blewfields with one of 
the American gentlemen mentioned as having gone 
on a trip to the Corn Islands, before I went to Pearl 
Cay Lagoon. Mr. Lane was a regular Yankee of 
the best class : his costume in this tropical country 
consisted of a very ample brown-holland coat, 
nearly down to his heels, and an immense straw 
wide-awake hat, under which appeared his shrewd, 
good-tempered, and generally laughing eyes. We 
soon became great friends. I rather liked his honest 
oddities. 

On the 8th of June we agreed to go together 
on a visit to Rama Cay, a mission settlement of 
Rama Indians, situated on a little cay in the lagoon, 
about eight miles south of Blewfields. After a 
pleasant sail down the lagoon in a fast dory belong- 
ing to old Temple, we landed on the cay, which is 
nearly covered by the neat little dwellings of the 
interesting inhabitants. I had been the more in- 
clined to go as the Rev. Jeus P. sen Juergenson 
had very kindly invited me to pay him a visit when 
I met him at Blewfields. He and his wife received 
us very hospitably, and accompanied us round the 
cay, showing us what would interest us, and calling 
on the principal inhabitants, of one of the most 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



281 



important of whom I took a sketch. This missionary 
must be a most actiye and energetic individual, the 
whole of this branch of the tribe having become 
Christians since his arrival among them, and the 
majority apparently very sincere. Most of the 
buildings in connexion with the Mission had been 
erected by his own hands. The construction de- 
serving of remark for the greatest share of labour 
was a wide and deep well, the sides of which were 
beautifully built. The aspect of the whole place 
and people was an example of what can be accom- 
plished by one single-hearted and devoted man. 
All this little island being occupied by the settle- 
ment, the people have their plantations on the 
mainland, and up a considerable river, which falls 
into the lagoon opposite the village. The number 
of inhabitants at the time of my visit was 164 (all 
llamas), of whom 37 were communicant members 
of the Moravian Church. Previous to their con- 
version, this tribe appears to have fallen into a 
more depraved state than any other in the country; 
but now all was changed. The Rama race must 
have been numerous formerly, but only a remnant 
remains south of the lagoon and on the Eama 
and Indian rivers. I was told by an old Mos- 
kito that a small tribe had migrated south of 
Grey Town, and was now settled in Costa 
Rica. 

In the evening, Mr. Lane and I sailed back to 
Blewfields, but the wind being contrary, we had 
to paddle round each point, and then sail across 



282 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



the intervening bights ; consequently, we did not 
arrive till late. 

I was very much vexed to find one evening that 
the fine Woukee bittern about which I had taken 
so much trouble, had been killed and eaten by one 
of the half- wild hogs that ran about the place, and 
found their way into the grounds surrounding Dr. 
Green's house, in search of bread-fruit fallen from 
the trees. I had intended bringing it home for the 
Zoological Society's Gardens. 

I was surprised to meet one day, near Temple's 
lodge, a handsome young Woolwa, who had been 
one of the crew of my pit-pan on the river. He 
had a heavy axe (for the use of which these Indians 
are famous), and was engaged in cutting some logs 
of wood, to be used, I believe, in building Temple's 
new house. I was shocked to see how altered he 
had become; his skin, once as clear as bronze, 
was covered with rough blotches, the perspiration 
was running down in streams, and he seemed much 
exhausted. When with me he could not speak a 
word of Moskito ; and I fear he must have had 
a hard time since then, for the Creoles are inclined 
to be tyrannical, and make perfect drudges of the 
Indians when they have the chance. Had I known 
that Temple would have brought him to Blewfields 
to make a servant of him, I should have seen that 
he returned to his home up among the rapids, before 
I left Temple's plantation at Mahogany Creek. 

The next day I started for Grey Town, to meet 
the homeward mail. Mr. Lane and I, after wishing 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



283 



our kind friends at the Mission-house farewell, put 
off, on the night of the 12th of July, to join the 
" Messenger of Peace," which lay in the bright 
moonlight under Halfway Cay, waiting for the 
breeze. As we sat on deck, watching the gently- 
heaving and silvery surface, we exchanged some 
of our experiences of the tropics, and a German, 
who had been long settled at Blewflelds, and was 
now on his way to Grey Town on business, related, 
among other things, the sensations of a drowning 
man. He said that once, when crossing the dan- 
gerous bar at Grey Town in a small boat, it was 
capsized in the surf, and as he was not a strong 
swimmer, after making great efforts to reach the 
drifting boat, to which his companions were clinging, 
he began gradually to sink. He felt then as if he 
were suspended half-way, and was neither able to 
rise to the surface nor to fall to the bottom. When 
at length he did feel his feet strike the sand, he 
made a desperate effort to gain the dry ground by 
walking on the bottom, his great anxiety being 
now to keep his footing, for he felt that if he once 
stumbled he would never be] able to rise again. 
The motion of the water swayed him from side to 
side, but still he managed to take many steps to- 
wards the sandbank, and already felt himself 
approaching the bright surface when something 
gripped his side. Thinking that it was a shark, 
he became insensible, but on coming to himself, 
found he was again in the boat, which had been 
righted. One of the men, a good diver, had gone 



284 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



down after him, and it was the grip of his pre- 
server's hand he had mistaken for a shark. 

Next day, we had a very pleasant sail along the 
coast. Between Monkey Point and Grey Town 
the country is very mountainous, and the effects 
of the heavy rain- clouds, now gathering for the 
wet season amid the hills and valleys, were very 
fine. 

The Blewfields man in charge of the " Messenger 
of Peace" was a brother of Hercules Temple. All 
the conversation now was about the threatening 
news from Nicaragua, and the captain loudly de- 
plored the falling off of the warlike spirit of the 
Moskitos. They were once sole masters of the 
coast as far south as the San Bias Indians, who were 
alone able to withstand the onset of their dorys 
of war. But he expressed a hope that, if the hated 
Spaniards did come, they would again clean and 
sharpen their rusty old lances, and arise from the 
drunkenness caused by the villainous stuff sold 
them as rum by the traders, which, with the aid 
of their own mishla, caused such demoralization, 
in spite of the efforts of the missionaries. As we 
sailed along, he pointed out several places where 
these Indians had fought with those who had 
formerly attempted to dispute their authority, and 
related how the king used to go in his large dory 
to take tribute of the Spaniards of Grey Town. 

We reached our destination, and landed on the 
morning of the 14th; and in the evening, returning 
from a stroll in the woods, I met the funeral of a 



A^IONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



285 



Spanish child. It was a strange sight : — first came 
a lad with a spade, after him followed two men 
bearing between them the coffin, which was gaily 
painted and dressed with flowers; on one side 
walked the men, and on the other the women, some 
of whom were smoking cigars ; behind, were men 
playing on fiddles and guitars ; and, lastly, a number 
of people, who were throwing crackers about, and 
amusing themselves in various ways. One of these 
combustibles fell amongst a flock of guinea-fowl, 
which seemed to cause much merriment for the 
company. 

During our stay at the Union Hotel, our charge 
was two dollars a day. Besides Mr. Lane and myself, 
there were several people there; one of whom, a 
gentlemanly young American, from Iowa, gave me 
a kind invitation, should I ever visit the States. 

The Royal West India Mail Ship, " Tamar," 
left Grey Town Bay at noon, and steamed away for 
Colon (Aspenwall). Leaving the high mountains of 
Costa Rica to the west, we entered Navy Bay about 
the middle of the next day. The mountains behind 
Porto Bello looked very beautiful : they were the 
deepest blue imaginable, — here and there intercepted 
by dense rain-clouds and showers. As soon as the 
u Tamar" was secured alongside one of the wharves, 
I went for a stroll through the town. Aspenwall is 
built on the marshy island of Manyanilla, with 
mangrove swamps all round ; the Panama railroad 
runs right through the town, and the odd-looking 
engines are constantly running to and fro. Seeing 



286 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS* 



some Indians engaged in selling their canoe loads 
of plantains, sea-shells, &c, I mixed with the crowd, 
and made some inquiries about them : they proved 
to be a few of the famous San Bias Indians, who 
had come from their village in the neighbourhood 
of Porto Bello : the greater number of them seemed 
to speak English. 

We lay at Aspenwall for six days, which gave 
all the time necessary for the little sight-seeing 
that was possible where so little is to be seen. The 
American Episcopal Church is a handsome building 
of stone ; but there was no service held in it during 
my brief sojourn in the town. 

I was exceedingly sorry to hear that Captain 
Hill, by whom I had been so kindly received in 
Chontales, had died on board the u Tamar " while 
she lay at this place on her }3revious voyage. He 
had been buried at a spot called Monkey Hill, a 
little distance along the Panama Eailway line. I 
walked along this line one day for some distance, 
and discovered that the first part runs through a 
dark mangrove swamp ; as far as I went there was 
very little elevated land. The amount of human life 
sacrificed in laying this line must have been im- 
mense, in consequence of the workmen turning up 
the slimy deposit of ages under a fierce sun : they 
say at Aspenwall that one man died for every 
sleeper. 

It was now intensely hot in the middle of the 
day, — hotter, I think, than I had ever felt it 
before, for though my skin was well accustomed to 



AMONG THE WOOLWA INDIANS. 



287 



heat by this time, the back of my neck became 
scorched and blistered. 

Mosquitoes were very troublesome on board when 
we lay alongside the pier, and there was very little 
rest to be had below at night. I wondered how 
the natives could exist in the houses I had seen in 
the vicinity of the town ; they were often built 
among the mangroves, on the little spaces where 
the swamp has been artificially filled in, and were 
only to be approached on boards raised in piles 
above the ooze. 

There were two North American gunboats here ; 
one was called, in singular bad taste, the " Osceola," 
after the celebrated Seminole chief, who died in a 
Yankee prison. 

We left Aspenwall on the 25th, and I am sure 
every one on board rejoiced to see the last of it. 

We passed Porto Bello, and coasted the country 
of the San Bias and other independent tribes ; and on 
the following day we sighted the high land of South 
America, in the neighbourhood of Santa Marta; 
and at St. Thomas' we changed ships, and sailed 
for Southampton. 



REPORT 

ON THE 

INDUSTRIAL CLASSES 

IN THE 

PROVINCES OF PARA AND AMAZONAS, 
BRAZIL, 

BY 

JAMES DE VISMES DRUMMOND HAY, C.B., 

H.B. MAJESTY'S CONSUL AT PARA. 
SEPTEMBER, 1870. 



IT 



REPORT on the INDUSTRIAL CLASSES in 

the Provinces of Para and Amazonas, Brazil, 
16th September, 1870. 



The population of the two extreme Northern Pro- 
vinces of Brazil, Para, and Amazonas, is composed 
of several distinct classes or races of men, namely, 
the Tapuyo, or civilized Indian; the white man, 
descendant of the Portuguese; Europeans, and 
foreigners from all nations ; the negro ; and, lastly, 
the several lineages which have sprung from the 
free mixture of all these races, and amongst whom, 
especially in the lower orders of the towns, black 
blood appears to predominate. 

The immense area included in the two provinces 
of Para and Amazonas may be roughly computed at 
about 400,000 square miles ; and the existing popu- 
lation at not more than 350,000. 

The population of slaves is small as compared 
with other provinces in the Empire, hardly 
amounting to 20,000. Their number is yearly 
decreasing, for nowhere in Brazil is the feeling that 



292 



REPORT ON THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES. 



the abolition of slavery is necessary and imminent, 
greater than in these provinces. 

The proportion of available labourers is very 
small, probably about one-tenth of the population ; 
as, though there is some poverty, there is little 
suffering; for nature is prodigal, though men are 
inert ; yet, from this very cause springs the want of 
labourers, in the field and town severely felt. 
Labourers and workmen are clamoured for, enabling 
the few to make up, to a certain limit, their 
own daily and often exorbitant stipulations for 
wages. 

The European who emigrates to this country, 
and by temperate habits becomes acclimatized, 
competes successfully with the native, — suffering no 
further ills from the climate than others of the 
white or dark race who are born and bred here. 

The Negro, or Mulatto, whether as free man or 
slave, is especially serviceable ; but the apathy of 
these races enables the European, with his superior 
energy, to take precedence. Of all races, however, 
which appear in these provinces, the Portuguese, as 
a more cognate people, are the most successful. In 
the two provinces there are about 20,000 Portu- 
guese ; and in the capital of Par&, out of a 
population of 35,000 inhabitants, there are not less 
than 5,000 Portuguese. These are engaged either 
in commerce, or occupy such trades as shopkeepers, 
smiths, carriers, drivers, and boatmen — to the 
utmost total exclusion in these trades of every 
other nationality ; and this, owing not only to their 



REPORT ON THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES. 



293 



numbers, but to their speaking the language of the 
country, having the same customs, adapting them- 
selves more readily to the food of the lower orders ; 
and also, it must be admitted, to their general hard- 
working, sober conduct, and the clanship kept up 
amongst them. 

The labouring agricultural population is princi- 
pally composed of the Tajiuyo Indians, upon whom 
falls, in a great measure, the burden of domestic 
employ ; as also in meeting the Government 
demands for recruits in the national service. 

The artisan workers are a mixture of all 
nations — in which, Germans and Portuguese appear 
as carpenters, joiners, and masons ; Englishmen and 
North Americans as engineers and mechanics. 

All these classes have employed and set an 
example to the native races, who learn with 
aptitude the several trades or professions. 

In all clever workmanship, the Mulatto, whether 
half Indian, or half white man, has shown his 
capability in an eminent degree by his general 
intelligence, sobriety, and attention to his work ; 
yet does the native workman require kind and 
encouraging treatment, and refuses to be driven, or 
to be spoken to harshly at his work ; for he then 
avails himself of the scarcity of workmen to re- 
sign his engagement, and seek employment else- 
where. 

As has been already made known in my 
" Annual Eeport on the Trade and Commerce of 
Para and Amazona," the extraction of india-rubber, 



294 REPORT ON THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES, 

which is here so prodigally yielded by nature, and 
requires little skill and experience from the labourer, 
has absorbed all attention over agricultural produce. 
The sugar-cane is only allowed to grow for the 
manufacture of cachass, or white rum, and sugar is 
imported from the Southern Provinces. The culti- 
vation of cotton, rice, coffee, and many other pro- 
ducts, is totally neglected, though known to be 
yielded by the soil in abundance and excellence; 
and though every facility is afforded for transport 
by the numerous rivers and water-ways which 
intersect the land. 

The labour of extracting rubber is so small, and 
yet so remunerative, that it is only natural to man- 
kind, and especially to the yet sparse and comatose 
population of these provinces, to jDrefer that occupa- 
tion ; in which a family gang, or single man, erect 
a temporary hut in the forest, and, living frugally 
on the fruit and game which abound, and their 
provision of dried fish and familia, realize in a few 
weeks such sums of money, in an ever-ready market, 
with which they are able to relapse into the much- 
coveted idleness, and enjoy their easy gains until 
the dry season for tapping the rubber-tree (June to 
J anuary) or collecting nuts returns ; rather than, 
by a little exertion, to clear the forest, till the 
ground, and watch their crops for a few months, 
before they can obtain a return for their expended 
capital. 

An exjDert and steady Tapuyo (the class chiefly 
employed in extracting rubber) will collect about 



REPORT ON THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES. 



295 



eight pounds English per day, which on an 
average is worth 8 mil ries, or about 13s. 4c£., i.e., 
Is. 8d. per pound. 

In a good rubber district men are known to 
extract even an arroba of rubber, or thirty-two 
pounds English, per day; but I have given the 
quantity of eight pounds of rubber as the average 
collection per man. Sometimes the Tapuyo, as 
also others, will lend their services to the proprietor 
of a district forest, in which the rubber-yielding 
portion is calculated by walks leading from tree to 
tree, extract rubber for their employers, and receive 
a per-centage on the amount collected, according to 
the value of labour at the time being. The method 
of extracting the milk from the rubber-tree is pri- 
mitive ; and still more primitive and rude is the 
manner of smoking, or curing the rubber-milk 
over smoke arising from, a funnel, under which is 
fired an oily nut, which is the fruit or seed 
of palm-trees, the Maximiliana Regia, Attalea 
excelsa, &c. 

Already, however, at this very time, an American 
and an Englishman have simultaneously presented 
for approval simple inventions, by which the opera- 
tion of smoking the rubber is more speedily per- 
formed than the mode at present in use. The little 
agricultural produce grown for home consumption 
is also in the hands of the Tapuyo, and is seldom 
undertaken by the white men. 

Whilst nature yields so prodigally as in this 
country the abundant riches which man has but to 



296 REPORT ON THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES. 



put forth his hand to gather, without any real call 
on his energy or industry, no attempt will be made, 
no inducement is held out to an inert population to 
profit by the richness of the soil, or assist even that 
very nature by a little industry to increase their 
comfort and wealth. 

Already the more accessible rubber districts are, 
it is said, becoming exhausted, and give a less yield 
than in former years ; yet the rubber-bearing 
country is so vast, that the constantly newly dis- 
coA^ered sources more than supply the deficiency 
occasioned by the exhaustion of the old, calls only 
for the slight exertion of extra travel, and has not 
yet imbued into this people the idea of planting the 
rubber-tree or caring for its growth. 

From the foregoing remarks it will be seen that, 
as far as agricultural labour is concerned, little can 
be said beyond the repeated fact that, should proper 
encouragement be given by the offer of good land, 
and other early conveniences, to the gradual and 
voluntary emigration of an industrial race, who 
would not allow the extraction of rubber, or simple 
gathering of nature's produce to absorb their atten- 
tion over all other labour, there is no doubt that in 
the course of a little time comfort and wealth would 
be enjoyed by the production of cotton, sugar, rice, 
cocoa, and other numerous articles indigenous to 
these provinces; and the condition of a country 
yet in the very infancy of civilization materially 
enhanced. 

Food, or the necessary aliment of man, is cheap 



REPORT 0^ THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES. 297 



and abundant ; but luxuries are dear, being double 
and triple the price in England. The native labourer 
or workman requires little luxury : his meals are 
often procured and eaten near the site of his work, 
and consist generally of dried or salted fish, or meat 
with familia (flour of the mandioca root), which 
may not be so nourishing as bread, but is satisfying 
and pleasant to the palate; a cup of coffee, and a 
drink of cachass. There are no manufactories on 
any large scale in the provinces ; cotton is neglected ; 
and the small manufactories for bricks, soap, or the 
like, for home consumption, or again, workshops and 
workmen, are all yet in the very cradle of progress, 
and offer little assistance for forming correct sta- 
tistics or ethics, as to class workmanship or bodies 
of workmen. Wages vary from 3 dollars to 
5 dollars, and even 7 dollars mil reis per day, equal 
at an average exchange of Is. 8d., to 5s., Ss. £d., 
and 11 s. 9d. sterling. The regular hours of labour 
are usually from six in the morning till four 
in the afternoon, from which time one hour, or 
one hour and a half, is exacted for a mid-day 
meal. 

The purchase power of money in these pro- 
vinces is, on the whole, immensely inferior to the 
standard in England. Luxuries are exorbitant, 
and only one or two of the necessaries are to be 
had cheaper than in England, or at what an 
English artisan would consider a reasonable rate* 
Thus, with reference to food, clothing, and house 
accommodation, it is found that in food only, the 



298 REPORT ON THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES. 



following articles compare favourably with English 
prices, viz. :— 

Para — Coffee, per lb., 10c?. ; England, Is. Sd. 
,, Beef ,, 6d. ; England, lOd. 

The quality of the beef, owing principally to 
the difficulties attending the transport of oxen from 
the interior, is, however, very poor, containing 
a large portion of bone, and on the whole the 
lesser price cannot be accepted as a fair cri- 
terion. 

Bread, butter, flour, tea, and other table neces- 
saries may be taken at double to triple English 
prices; fish, fowls, and other meats even exceed 
this proportion; and, notwithstanding the fertility 
of the soil, the purchase of vegetables is altogether 
beyond a working man's means, and can only be 
obtained by his own industry, should he be fortunate 
enough to secure a piece of ground for this purpose. 

Household economy is in many instances difficult 
to practise, as it is found absolutely necessary to 
cook all fresh food when purchased, and nothing 
cooked can be kept in good condition for many 
hours. 

House accommodation is difficult to obtain ; 
rooms require to be large, and the necessity of 
ventilation prevents economy of sj)ace in building ; 
so that, taking into account the high wages of arti- 
sans and labourers employed in their construction, 
the rent of buildings, which are of very inferior 
quality, is, on an average, three to four that of 
England. Thus, an artisan living in England in 




NEAR SANTAjREM, PARA, BRAZIL 



* 



REPORT ON THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES. 299 



an £8 house, would not be more comfortable here at 
a rent of £24 to £30 ; and even at these figures 
would find considerable difficulty in obtaining a 
house. 

Clothing is of course lighter than in England, 
and, with the exception of shoe-leather, should not 
be more expensive; this article is, however, very 
dear, as, whether from the humidity of the climate 
or other causes, boots and shoes are quickly worn 
out. 

As may be concluded by these remarks, the 
money power of £10 sterling in England may 
be considered fully equal to £20 in Para. 

For the preservation of health in this climate, 
temperance both in eating and drinking is cer- 
tainly to be recommended; but not abstinence 
either from meats, light wines, a moderate use of 
beer, or a mixture with water of the native cachass, 
as the exhaustive nature of the climate, producing a 
continual perspiration, would otherwise weaken the 
system. On the other hand, over-indulgence, espe- 
cially in drink, — a failing which, it is to be regretted, 
many Englishmen are justly taxed with — quickly 
produces bilious disorders, and often blood fevers, 
resulting in many serious illnesses, and not a few 
sudden deaths. 

Over-exertion, exhaustion, or exposure to the 
rain or sun, should be as far as possible avoided ; at 
the same time, a man need not be too careful of 
himself, and a fair amount of work may be done 
without danger : regular habits, and not too much 



300 REPORT ON THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES. 

irritability of temper, are, of course, to be recom- 
mended. 

Houses, as already mentioned, are difficult to 
be had, and have to be taken without always 
attending to convenience of locality. 

Ventilation as a rule is good, drainage bad, and 
generally not over clean. In low-lying localities 
the houses are not free from miasma and air-poison- 
ings ; but such annoyances are not, on the whole, 
here to be dreaded ; neither are the risks of health 
from these causes greater than in other parts of the 
world. 

The standard of work is much lower than in 
England; but there is no doubt that in turning out 
work, high-classed artisans in Para, as elsewhere, 
try to sustain their character. As "to making a 
stand against their turning out bad work," — the 
quality of work being often, at the best, inferior, 
and the wages of workmen, or the charges made 
almost what such workmen choose to exact, — this 
question does not seem applicable to Para, but is 
more so to places where the wholesale manufacture 
of class articles occurs. No doubt the sense of 
honour of many artisans would lead them to be 
careful in their work ; but there is, I apprehend, no 
class of this kind. 

To conclude, I have to observe that any intelli- 
gent, skilful, and sober artisan would be, and is, 
certain of remunerative employment in Para. 
There are difficulties at first to be contended with, 
such as the language, house-accommodation, and 



REPORT ON THE INDUSTRIAL GLASSES, 301 

occasional slight illnesses, until he becomes acclima- 
tized and accustomed to the usages of the country. 
But a man who is persevering and not wasteful in 
his expenditure,— not too urgent for the pleasures 
of society,— of regular, quiet habits, avoiding the 
many vices that afflict strangers in Para,— would, as 
a rule, be able considerably to better his circum- 
stances, and in a brief period rise in reputation 
even above his class in England. 

Unhappily, however, the greater portion, though 
not the whole of the English artisans who have 
hitherto appeared at Para, seeking employment, 
have been sadly wanting in some of these qualities, 
especially in their extraordinary addiction to drink; 
and, in consequence, have but in a few cases 
realized their wishes, or reflected credit on their 
countrymen resident here, who feel ashamed of 
their daily intercourse with the more temperate 
Brazilians. 

James de V. Drummond Hay, 

Para, September 16$, 1870. 



FINIS, 



